THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


HISTORICAL 


CAUSES  AND  EFFECTS 


FROM   THE 


FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE, 

476, 

TO  THE  REFORMATION, 

15  17. 


In  History,  a  great  volume  is  unrolled  for  our  instruction,  drawing  the  materials 
of  future  wisdom  from  the  past  errors  and  infirmities  of  mankind."— Burke. 


WILLIAM    SULLIVAN, 

Fellow  of  the  American  Academy  of  ArlsVnd  Sciences  ;  Member  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Historical  Society;  and  Honorary  Member  of  the  Histor- 
ical Society  of  Pennsylvania  :    Author  of '  Political,' 
'Moral,'  and  •  Historical  Class  Books.' 


BOSTON: 

JAMES  B.  DOW,  362  WASHINGTON-ST. 
1838. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1837,  by 

William  Sullivan, 
in  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


Printed  by  Wm.  A.  Hall  &  Co. 


T>5Ll 
S37 


PREFACE 


The  genius  of  History  is  represented  as  in  the  act  of  record- 
ing passing  events.  It  should  rather  be  regarded  as  seated 
among  ruins  and  relics,  and  tasking  imagination  to  rebuild  and 
repeople  the  temples  and  abodes,  which  scattered  fragments 
prove  to  have  existed.  An  outline  of  physical  being,  and  of 
actions,  may  be  formed  ;  but  motives,  passions,  perceptions  of 
good  and  evil,  living  life,  are  presented  according  to  the  histo- 
rian's deduction  or  inference.  He,  unconsciously,  portrays  his 
own  views,  when  he  intends  to  delineate  historical  truth.  Those 
who  treat  of  the  same  persons  and  events,  are  often  found  to 
be  inconsistent  with  each  other;  and  on  causes  and  motives 
they  are  frequently  irreconcilable.  That  history  should  be 
overshadowed  with  doubts  and  uncertainties  is  inevitable,  but 
history  is  not,  therefore,  as  is  sometimes  said,  mere  fable. 

There  are  certain  causes  and  effects  which  may  be  discerned 
among  all  the  varieties  of  conflicting  accounts.  These  are  the 
sources  of  historical  instruction.  They  disclose  the  course  of 
events  by  which  the  world  has  been  brought  to  its  present  con- 
dition. They  are  the  fads,  however  variously  stated,  from 
which  its  future  condition  is  to  be  inferred. 

From  the  review  of  these  ten  centuries  it  appears,  that  it  is 
man's  destiny  to  be  ever  the  cruel  enemy  of  himself-— the  slave 
of  his  own  bad  passions — the  destroyer  of  his  fellow— and  qual- 
ified only  to  repeat,  from  age  to  age,  the  same  course  of  follies, 
crimes,  and  miseries.  No  respite  is  found  but  in  the  exhaus- 
tion of  the  power  to  do  evil,  or  when  a  brief  tranquillity  is 
secured  by  the  terror  of  superior  force.  With  all  the  light 
which  the  three  last  centuries  have  given,  bloody  conflicts  are 
still  seen  among  the  people  of  the  same  nation.  In  several 
Christian  countries,  an  adroit  priesthood  still  darkens  and  sub- 
dues the  mind,  and  armed  despots  hold  millions  in  sullen  bond- 
age. Where  civil  liberty  is  known,  there  is  dread  of  com- 
motions, revolution,  and  anarchy  ;  or  there  is  serious  apprehen- 
sion that  despotism  will  gradually  enthrone  itself  by  the  forms 
of  legislation,  or  by  ruling  the  will  of  a  majority  who  are  too 
degraded  and  ignorant  to  perceive  their  own  subjection. 

Reason  penetrates  this  discouraging  gloom.  It  discerns  that 
the  beneficent  gift  of  the  Deity  is,  the  capacity  to  improve. 
It  finds,  in  the  neglect  of  this  capacity,  the  true  cause  of  human 
errors,  and  the  deepest  reproach  to  man's  free  agency. 

Hitherto,  improvement  has  been  left  to  individual  efforts,  as 
though  it  were  too  insignificant  an  object  to  merit  the  attention 
of  rulers.     If  tli^^nxlhKm^f^vhichhuman  society  is  capable, 


IV  PREFACE. 

should  ever  arise,  it  will  be  when  governments  have  performed 
their  duties.  Governments  have  something  more  to  do  than  to 
provide  for  the  trial  and  punishment  of  criminals — for  taxation 
— for  regulating  the  rights  and  uses  of  property — for  keeping 
arms  to  preserve  peace,  or  wage  wars  of  aggression  and  defence. 
It  is  their  duty,  also,  to  guard  against  the  commission  of  misde- 
meanors and  crimes,  and  to  prepare  approaching  manhood  to 
understand  and  respect  a  sound  morality,  as  the  best  means  of 
security  and  welfare.  No  one  will  say,  that  society  is  more 
safe  from  violence  and  confusion  when  only  a  few  are  instruct- 
ed in  social  rights  and  duties.  It  is  then  the  least  safe,  as  some 
of  these  few  will  yield  to  the  temptation  of  acting  on  the  gene- 
ral ignorance,  to  secure  benefits  inconsistent  with  the  general 
good.  Society  will  be  safe  only  when  all  its  members  are  in- 
structed, and  when  all  are  competent  to  judge  of  the  just  and 
beneficent  exercise  of  power,  and  of  its  perversion  and  abuse. 
It  is  not  by  prohibitory  statutes  that  society  can  be  made  safe 
and  prosperous,  but  by  the  prevalence  of  enlightened  public 
opinion.  Such  opinion  will  prevail  when  Governments  use 
their  trust,  in  unison  with  individuals,  to  teach,  universally,  the 
rights  and  duties  of  human  life.* 

To  know  what  can  be  done,  it  must  be  known,  first,  how  this 
capacity  has  been  used,  neglected,  or  perverted.  This  volume 
is  intended  as  a  contribution  to  that  object. 

First.  The  state  of  society  is  examined  at  the  close  of  the 
fifth  century,  when  a  new  condition  arose  among  nations  on  the 
fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  of  the  West.'^ 

Second.  Events  which  had  permanent  effects  on  moral, 
social,  and  political  condition,  are  treated  of  separately  and 
continuously,  as  to  each  nation. 

Third.  International  events  are  treated  of  in  the  territories 
in  which  they  principally  occurred. 

Fourth.  The  order  of  treatment  is  to  begin  with  the  most 
westward ly  of  European  nations,  and  proceed  thence  through 
each  nation  to  the  eastern  end  of  Asia. 

Fifth.  To  preserve  the  connexion  of  events,  it  has  been 
necessary,  sometimes,  to  transcend  the  limits  of  these  ten  cen- 
turies. 

There  remain,  as  the  subjects  of  another  volume,  causes  and 
effects  among  European  nations,  and  their  colonies,  during  the 
last  three  centuries. 

Boston,  November,  1837. 

♦  "  A  Board  or  Education  "  has  been  established  (in  1837)  by  legis- 
lative authority,  for  the  instruction  of  the  young  in  common  schools. 
This  system  is  going  into  full  effect  under  a  wise  and  faithful  adminis- 
tration, and  is  every  where  gratefully  and  respectfully  received.  There 
is  better  hope,  from  these  measures,  that  rational  civil  liberty  may  be 
preserved,  than  from  any  thing  done  since  Massachusetts  became  a 
sovereign  State. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter 

I. — The  state  of  Europe  at  the  close  of  the  fifth   Century 
II. — The  Population  of  Europe  at  the  close  of  the  fifth  Cen- 
tury  3 

III. — The  Roman  Empire  of  the  East  ....        9 

IV. — The  state  of  Religion  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  Century  13 

V.— The  Feudal  System 18 

VI. — Ireland. — Original  Population  —  Poems  of  Ossian — St. 
Patrick — Pelagian  Heresy — Learning — Conquest  of 
Ireland  by  Henry  II. — Causes  of  Affliction — Prince 
John— Government  of  English  Kings — State  of  Ire- 
land in  1500 32 

VII. — Scotland. — Original  Population  —  Divisions  of  Socie- 
ty— Macbeth — Stuart  Origin — Maid  of  Norway — Suc- 
cession of  Baliol  and  Bruce  to  the  Crown — Wallace — 
Succession  of  Kings — English  and  Scotch  Wars — 
Marriage  of  Henry  VII.'s  daughter  with  James  IV.  44 
VIII. — Saxons — England. — Caesar's  Conquest  of  England — Ro- 
man Dominion — The  Saxons  ....  54 

IX. — Saxons  in  England — Heptarchy  —  Consolidation — Eg- 
bert— Danish  Invasion — Alfred         ....        59 
X.— Alfred's  Reign— Danes— State  of  England— Religion        63 
XL — Alfred's  Labors— His    own  Acquirements — His  Gov- 
ernment— Its  Effects  on  his  Subjects — The  Difficulties 
he  encountered 67 

XII.— Social  and  Political  Condition  of  the  Saxons  after  Al- 
fred's Death— Saxon  Language  ....     73 

XIII. — Succession  of  Kings  from  Alfred  to  William  the  Con- 
queror— Saint  Dunstan — Danish  Kings — Battle  of  Has- 
tings—William  in  1066  .  81 

XIV. — The  Reign  of  William — Introduction  of  the  Feudal 
System — Dooms-day  Book — Game  Laws — William 
Rufus— Henry  I — Stephen— Henry  II. — Thomas  a 
Becket — Events  in  Henry's  Reign — His  Death — State 

of  Society 89 

XV. — Richard  I. — Crusade — Jews— Richard's  Imprisonment — 
His  Death — John — murders  Arthur — Submission  to 
the  Pope— Loss  of  French  Provinces — Magna  Char- 
ta— John's  Death 99 

XVI. — Henry  III.— Civil  Wars  —  Confirmation  of  Magna 
Charta — First  House  of  Commons— De  Mountfort — 
Death  of  Henry  III— State  of   Society  .        .        106 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Caapter  Page 

XVII. — Edward  I.— Conquest  of  Wales— Wars  with  Scotland 
— War  with  France— William  Wallace— Internal 
Administration — Confirmation  of  Charters — Com- 
merce—Edward II.— Battle  of  Bannockburn        .     114 
XVIII.— Edward  III.— War  with  France— Battle  of  Crecy— 
Edward  the  Black  Prince — Ich  Dien — Order  of  the 
Garter — Battle  of  Poictiers — King  of  France  cap- 
tive— Peace  with  France — New  War  with  France 
—Death  of  Black  Prince— Death  of  Edward  III.        122 
XIX.— Richard  II.— War  with  Scotland— Wat  Tyler's  Insur- 
rection— Richard's  Internal  Administration — Trou- 
bled state  of  the  Kingdom — Richard  goes  to  Ireland 
— Henry  IV.  usurps  the  Crown — Richard  Deposed 
and  Murdered — Internal  state  of  the  Kingdom — 
Distinguished  Authors         .  .  127 

XX. — Henry  IV. — Origin  of  the  Two    Roses — Rebellions 
against  Henry  IV. — WicklirTe,  the  Reformer — Hen- 
ry V. — Conquests  in  France — Henry  VI.        .  135 
XXI. — Henry  VI. — Principal  Actors  in  this  reign — Margaret 
of  Anjou — Internal  Dissensions — Jack  Cade — Duke 
of  York  Regent — Commencement  of  Civil  Wars — 
Warwick  the  King-maker — Edward  IV.       .        .     143 
XXII. — Reign  of  Edward  IV. — Continuation  of  Wars  between 
the  Roses — Edward's  Q.ueen,  Elizabeth  Woodville 
— Rebellions — Edward's  Flight — His  Restoration — 
Death    of  Warwick — Glueen    Margaret  captive — 
Death  of  Henry  VI.    .        ...        .        .        .        151 

XXIII.— Richard  III.— Principal  Actors  in  his  Time— Murder 
of  Edward's  two  Sons— Richard's  attempt  to  marry 
Edward's  daughter  Elizabeth —  Earl  of  Richmond 
— Battle  of  Bosworth — Heniy  VII. — Distinguished 
Writers 158 

XXIV.— Spaik. — Early  Population — Gothic  Kingdom — Intro- 
duction of  Catholic  Religion — Northern  Kingdoms 
of  Spain — Invasion  of  the  Moors — Wars  between 
Northern  Kingdoms  and  the  Moors         .  .  1G9 

XXV. — The  Moors  in  Spain — Their  Riches  and  Magnifi- 
cence—Their Learning — Their  Decline    .        .        175 

XXVI. — Gothic.  Kingdoms— Wars  with  the  Moors — Spirit  of 
Freedom— Cortes  —  Justiza  —  The  Cid — Peter  the 
Cruel-Ferdinand  and  Isabella-Conquest  of  Granada  178 

XXVII— Portugal 190 

XXVIII. — Hou.and — Belgium — NETiiEru.ANns       ....   192 
XXIX. — FtiA.vcE. — France,  from  500  to  the  Reign  of  the  Carlo- 

vingians 198 

XXX.— The  Reign  of  the  Carlovingians— Charlemagne  .  203 
XXXI.— The  state  of  France  in  the  year  1000  ...  210 
XXXII.— The  Succession  of  French  Kings — Papal  Power — 

Truce  of  God— Hildcbrand,  Gregory  VII.— Crusades  213 


CONTENTS.  VII 

Chapter  Page 

XXXIII.— Louis  the  Fat— Third  Estate— Crusades— Louis  VII. 
— Divorce  of  his  Q.ueen,  Elenora — Her  marriage 
with  Henry  II.  of  England — Crusade  of  Richard 
and  others — Troubadours — Persecution  of  the  Albi- 
genses — Origin  of  the  Inquisition  .        .        .    220 

XXXIV. — Saint  Louis — His  first  Crusade — His  Internal  Gov- 
ernment— His  second  Crusade — His  Death  .  .  229 
XXXV. — The  five  Kings,  descendants  of  Saint  Louis — Inter- 
nal stale  of  France — Warfare  between  Philip  and 
Pope  Boniface — The  Papal  Seat  removed  to  France 
—Destruction  of  Knight  Templars— Deathof  Philip  233 
XXX VI.— Philip  VI.— Wars  of  France  and  England- Commo- 
tions in  France — Its  miserable  Condition — Battles 
between  the  English  and  the  French — Jacquerie — 

Peace 237 

XXXVII. — Renewal  of  the  War— Henry  V.  in  France— Peace- 
Marriage  of  Henry  V.— His  Death — Henry  VI. — 
Charles  VII. — Maid    of  Orleans — Recovery  of  his 

Kingdom  by  Charles  VII 243 

XXXVIII.— The  Reign  of  Louis  XI.  of  France  .        .        .249 

XXXIX— Charles  VIII.— Louis  XII. 253 

XL. — Northern  and  North-eastern  Europe  .         .         257 

XLI. — Germany. —  Separation  of  Germany    and   France — 

Classes  of  People — Elements  of  German  History  259 
XLII. — Succession  of  Emperors  ...,.»  264 
XLIIL— German  Emperors  from  1152  to  1308  ...  270 
XLIV.— German  Emperors  from  1308  to  1519  .  278 
XLV. — Switzerland. — Origin  of  the  League  of  the  Swiss  Can- 
tons                                  .    285 

XLVI. — The  Wars  between  the   Swiss  Cantons  and  German 
Emperors,  and  the  Swiss  and  Dukes  of  Austria,  from 
1316  to  1450         ......         .292 

XLVII. — Wars  of  the  Swiss  and  Emperors,  and  with  Louis  XI. 
of  France  and  with  Charles  of  Burgundy — Remark- 
able Battles— Character  of  the  Swiss  in  1500    .        .  298 
XLVIIL— Italy— Gothic  Kingdom— Reign   of  Theodoric— Lom- 
bards— Belisarius — Narses— Italian  Language    .        309 
XLIX. — Lombardy. — Lombard  Kingdom— Conquest  by  Pepin 
of  France — Dominion  of  Charlemagne  and  of  his 
Successors — Normans  in  Italy  .        ♦         .         316 

L—  Northern  Italy.— State  of  Northern   Italy  in  1100 — 
Guelfs  andGhibelines— Frederick  Barbarossa's  Wars 
with  the  Italian  Republics       ....  320 

LI. — From  the  Peace  of  Constance,  in  1183,  to  the  Death 
of  Frederick  II.,  Emperor  of  Germany  and   King  of 

the  Two  Sicilies,  in  1250 328 

LII.— The  Republic  of  Venice 339 

LIII. — Bologna — Ferrara — Genoa— Pisa  .        .         :        350 

LIV.— Middle  Italy— Tuscany— Republic  of  Florence  from 

i  nnn  tr,  i  ?»nn         .  357 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

Chapter  Page 

LV.— The  Medici  Family 371 

LVL— Naples  and  Sicily,  from  1127  to  1516       ...        391 
LVIT.— Conquest  of  Naples,  by  Charles  VIII.  of  France        .    400 
LVI1L— Rome— The  Popes— The  Church,  from  1000  to  1500     411 
LIX. — Measures  of  the  Popes  to  subject  all  Temporal  Au- 
thority to  themselves  425 

LX. — Popes  in  France — Great  Schism — Council  of  Constance  434 
LXI.— The  Crusades,  from  1096  to  1291        .        .        .        .446 

LXII. — Effects  of  the  Crusades. — Increase  of  Papal  Power 
*^*"  — Effect  on  Temporal  Power — Free  Cities — Effect 

on  Agricultural  Life — Chivalry — Nobility — Orders 
of  Knighthood — On  Commerce — Silk — Sugar — Ef- 
fect on  Social  Character— Evils  of  Crusades  .  454 
LXIIL— Retrospect  of  the  five  Centuries  from  1000  to  1500  .  465 
LXIV. — Eastern  Empire. — Constantine-Constantinople-Justin- 
ian — Factions  of  the  Circus — Theodora — Belisarius 
— Narses — Edifices— Civil  Law — Remarkable  events  474 

LX  V. — The  Emperor  Heraclius  and  the  Persians — Restoration 
of  the  Holy  Cross — Succession  of  Greek  Emperors 
— Basilican  Code — The  Latin  Kingdom        .        .    488 

LXVI. — Greek  Empire -Military  Adventurers— Succession  of 
Emperors — Attack  of  the  Turks — Bajazet — Concili- 
ation of  Greek  and  Latin  Churches— Constantinople 
taken  by  the   Turks—  Note  on  the  Greek  Church  503 

LXVII. — Western  Asia — Persia — Cities  on  the  Euphrates  and 

Tigris — Persian  Grandeur  ....        518 

LXVIII. — Mahometan  Religion — Arabia. — Ancient  Religion — 

Mahomet,  or  Mohammed  .        •        .        .        .526 

LXTX.— Mahomet's  Progress— Death— Abubeker— Omar        .   534 
LXX. — Conquest  of  Egypt — Alexandrian  Library — Conquests 

in  Barbary — Mixture  of  Arabs  and  Moors    .        .      543 
LXXI. — Mahometan  Empire  in  the  East —  House  of  Ommiades 

— Abbassides    . 550 

LXXII. — House  of  Abbassides — Splendor  of  the  Caliphate— De- 
cline and  Fall  of  the  Arabian  Power — Origin  of  the 

Ottoman  Empire 556 

LXX  III.— Central  Asia. — The  Cradle  of  Nations— Zoroaster — 

His  Religion .564 

LXXIV. — India. — Population — Religion — Ancient  Temples-Sin- 
gular Opinions 568 

LXXV. — India.— Commerce— Political  Revolutions — Conquests 

of  Europeans 577 

LXXV1. — British  Conquests  and  Possessions  in  India  .        .    583 

LXXVIL— Chin-India 588 

LXXV1II.— China. — Geography  of  China— Origin  of  Chinese— Great 
Wall— Elements  of  History — Tartar  Dynasty  of  1664 
— Characteristics — Government — Foreigners — Lan- 
guage— Religion—  Present  Condition — Australia — 
Oceania  .......        .     590 


HISTORICAL  CAUSES  AND  EFFECTS   FROM 
A.  D.  500  TO  A.  D.   1500. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  STATE  OF  EUROPE  AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY. 

In  the  first  part  of  these  Historical  Sketches,  nations  and 
events  were  examined  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  fall  of  the 
Roman  empire  of  the  West,  A.  D.  476.  It  is  intended  to 
comprise  in  this  volume,  nations  and  events  from  that  period 
to  the  Reformation,  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

At  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  the  West  of  Europe  had 
undergone  an  entire  revolution.  The  Roman  empire  of  the 
East  continued  nearly  one  thousand  years  after  that  time,  and 
was  then  subdued  by  the  Turks.  Distinct  nations,  whom  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  comprised  under  the  general  name  of 
barbarians,  had  possessed  themselves  of  the  West.  This 
revolution  involved  not  only  the  tenure  of  the  land ;  a  new 
order  of  things  arose  in  government  and  religion — in  the 
objects  of  desire  and  aversion — in  the  orders  of  society,  and, 
necessarily,  in  customs  and  habits.  German  barbarism  inter- 
mingled with  Roman  civilization.  As  the  former  had  a  com- 
manding influence,  the  latter  entirely  disappeared.  From  this 
revolution  are  derived  the  several  nations  which  now  hold  all 
the  West  of  Europe.  From  this  epoch  are  to  be  traced  the 
corruptions  and  abuses  of  Christianity ;  the  new  character 
and  consequences  of  war ;  new  languages ;  new  divisions  in 
the  orders  of  society ;  the  rise  of  the  various  employments  in 
which  the  members  of  society  are  now  seen  to  be  engaged ; 
the  rank  and  influence  of  woman  in  the  social  and  domestic 
relations  of  life.  Over  these  various  subjects  is  to  be  noticed 
the  effect  of  political  power  ;  that  is,  the  command  over  phys- 
ical strength,  by  which  one,  few,  or  many  have  been  able  to  ^ 
prescribe  rules  and  enforce  obedience  as  to  all  others.  —  ■  ^ 
1 


)i  THE    STATE    OF    EUROPE    AT    THE 

Before  the  Romans  had  passed  the  Alps  into  the  country 
now  called  France,  k  wfaf  inhabited  by  a  people  known  under 
the  general  name  *of  Cekae,  or  Celts,  and  who  called  them- 
selves.OacloB  ^ales,-  a^d  whence,  the  Roman  name  for  them, 
Gauls;  *&a?,  derived,  anil,  their  \teiiitory  known  by  the  general 
name  of  Gaul.  Tribes  are  supposed,  at  some  unknown  time, 
to  have  emigrated  from  Asia,  and  to  have  occupied  a  large 
portion  of  the  West  of  Europe.  They  are  thought  to  have 
been  a  distinct,  and,  in  many  respects,  a  different  people  from 
those  who  formed  the  German  tribes,  and  to  have  come,  before 
these  tribes,  into  Europe.  From  the  Celts,  the  population  of 
England,  France,  Wales,  Scotland,  and  Ireland  was  undoubt- 
edly derived ;  though  the  names  among  this  population  were 
different,  and  the  languages  spoken  by  them  so  variant  from 
each  other  as  to  have  lost  the  proof  of  common  origin. 

The  Celts  were  distinguishable  from  other  barbarous  peo- 
ple by  their  religion  and  their  bards.  In  their  religion,  we 
find  the  same  causes  producing  the  same  effects,  as  we  have 
noticed  in  the  religion  of  Egyptians,  Persians,  Greeks,  and 
Romans ;  that  is,  awful  and  terrifying  mysteries,  conducted  by 
an  initiated  and  sacred  fraternity,  corresponding  to  the  common 
name  of  priests.  They  were  called  Druids.  Like  the  Bra- 
mins  of  India,  and  the  priests  of  Egypt,  they  formed  a  dis- 
tinct class  or  caste ;  and  like  these,  and  like  the  magi  of  Per- 
sia, they  were  not  only  the  ministers  in  all  holy  things,  but 
also  the  learned  in  the  superstitions,  mysteries,  and  worship 
which  they  had  invented.  They  possessed  the  highest  author- 
ity in  all  affairs  of  government  and  in  the  administration  of 
justice;  they  appointed  officers,  and  governed  absolutely  in  all 
things  but  in  warfare,  in  which  they  were  not  held  to  engage. 
They  denounced  the  punishments  of  their  religion  against 
those  who  were  sinful  or  disobedient.  Thus  we  see  among 
the  Druids,  only  one  more  form  of  the  same  propensities 
which  have  appeared  in  most  nations  and  ages  where  there  was 
only  the  religion  of  human  creation.  In  such  religions  some 
animal  or  plant  has  usually  been  held  sacred.  The  Druids 
considered  the  misletoe  (which  is  called  a  parasitical  plant, 
because  it  does  not  grow  from  the  ground,  but  from  another 
plant,  especially  the  oak,)  as  the  holiest  object  in  nature ;  as 
the  lotus  was  in  India  and  Egypt.  The  principal  seat  of  this 
Druidical  power  was  in  England.  Some  of  the  wonderful 
stone  structures  seen  in  the  British  isles,  were  Druid  temples. 

The  Celtic  bards  were  singing  poets,  who,  as  such,  were 
historians,  common  to  most  barbarous  and  warlike  nations- 


CLOSE    OF    THE    FIFTH    CENTURY. 


3 


There  were  such  persons  among  the  Greeks,  in  the  early 
>eriods  of  their  history.  The  Scotch,  Welsh,  and  Irish  pipers, 
;re  relics  of  the  Celtic  bards.  The  poems  of  Ossian,  purport- 
ng  to  be  translations  of  ancient  Celtic  productions,  give  some 
impression  of  the  character  and  effect  of  this  exciting  melody.* 
The  Celts  were  a  numerous  and  powerful  race  at  an  early 
period,  and  sufficiently  so  to  have  invaded,  and  to  have  con- 
quered, a  part  of  Spain,  and  portions  of  country  along  the 
Danube,  and  to  have  extended  themselves  even  into  Greece. 
As  these  nations  had  no  records  of  themselves,  their  territo- 
ries, conquests,  and  condition  are  not  to  be  ascertained.  Their 
migrations,  changes  and  revolutions  were,  doubtless,  like 
those  which  occurred  among  the  Indians  of  America,  for  cen- 
turies before  they  were  known  to  Europeans.  The  Celts  were 
subjected  to  the  action  of  the  Romans  for  nearly  four  centu- 
ries, and  then  to  the  German  barbarians  ;  so  that  towards  the 
end  of  the  fifth  century,  their  distinctive  name,  their  Druids, 
and  their  bards,  had  been  lost  by  mingling  with  other  people. 
They  were  like  great  rivers  which  come,  in  their  course,  to  a 
still  greater  volume  of  waters,  in  which  their  origin,  and  their 
name,  and  their  peculiarities,  are  no  longer  distinguishable. 


CHAPTER  IL. 

THE  POPULATION  OF  EUKOPE   AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  FIFTH  CENTDRY. 

Before  the  year  500,  the  Roman  empire  had  extended 
itself  beyond  the  Alps  to  the  north  and  west.  It  ruled  in  what 
is  now  called  Switzerland,  and  still  further  north,  from  the  foot 
of  the  Alps,  a  small  distance  into  Germany,  as  it  now  is. 
The  line  of  Roman  possession  was  different  at  different  times. 
The  forty-seventh  degree  of  north  latitude  is  near  their  most 
northern  boundary.  These  regions,  which  Rome  had  acquired 
by  conquest,  were  distinguished  by  various  names,  not  neces- 
sary to  be  mentioned,  as  few  of  them  are  now  so  called.  West 
of  the  river  Rhine,  and  thence  to  the  Atlantic,  was  Gaul,  as 
the  Romans  called  it,  and  the  same  which  is  now  called 
France.     Over  the  whole  of  this  country  the  Romans  had 

*  Thomas  Moore,  in  his  History  of  Ireland,  has  investigated  the 
authenticity  of  the  poems  of  Ossian,  and  has  shown  their  true  origin,  as 
will  be  noticed  in  sketches  of  Ireland. 


4         THE  POPULATION  OF  EUROPE  AT  THE 

acquired  dominion  by  long-continued  and  bloody  wars.  They 
had  also  passed  over  to  England.  Caesar  was  the  first  Ro- 
man general  who  appeared  on  the  island,  53  B.  C.  England 
was  held  as  a  Roman  province  till  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
century,  and  between  that  time  and  the  year  A.  D.  446,  it  was 
abandoned,  and  all  Roman  authority  withdrawn.  (Mcintosh, 
chap.  I.) 

If  we  begin  at  the  forty-seventh  degree  of  north  latitude, 
where  it  crosses  Jhe  river  Rhine,  and  follow  that  line  thence 
eastwardly,  towards  the  Caspian  sea  in  Asia,  we  shall  mark 
the  line,  on  the  earth's  surface,  which  was  (in  Europe)  the 
boundary,  alternately  of  Romans  and  barbarians,  as  the  one  or 
the  other  prevailed  in  their  conflicts.  From  this  line  of  lati- 
tude northwardly  to  the  Northern  Ocean,  both  in  Asia  and 
Europe,  is  found  that  vast  territory  in  which  millions  of  human 
beings  dwelt  in  a  state  of  barbarism.  Their  origin  is  un- 
known. The  little  that  is  known  of  them  is  obtained  through 
the  Greeks  and  Romans,  in  describing  wars  to  conquer  or 
repel  them,  on  the  frontiers  of  the  empire.  The  historians 
who  are  followed  in  the  accounts  given  of  these  nations,  are 
the  Grecian  Herodotus,  and  Caesar  and  Tacitus  among  the 
Romans.  By  the  two  latter  writers,  especially,  these  tribes  are 
distinguished  by  national  names.  They  knew  how  to  use  iron 
in  their  warfare,  and  they  had  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep. 

It  is  said  by  Hallam,  in  his  learned  and  elaborate  history  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  that  before  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  bar- 
barous nations  had  thus  possessed  themselves  of  the  west  of 
Europe.  The  Suevi  held  part  of  Spain ;  the  Visigoths  pos- 
sessed the  remainder,  and  a  part  of  Gaul,  or  France,  next  to 
Spain ;  the  Burgundians  had  established  themselves  in  France, 
between  the  rivers  Rhone  and  Saone,  on  the  south-eastern  part  of 
France.  The  Ostrogoths  possessed  nearly  the  whole  of  Italy. 
The  Vandals,  who  came  first  of  these  nations,  had  traversed 
Europe  into  Spain,  passed  thence  into  Africa,  and  penetrated 
to  Carthage,  which  was  their  seat  of  empire.  This  account 
by  Hallam  agrees  with  those  of  other  writers,  through  whom 
it  is  known,  that  the  northern  part  of  France  was  held  by  a 
people  who  were  called  Franks,  and  who  held  also  the  Neth- 
erlands, now  called  Belgium.  The  Franks  were  a  confede- 
racy of  tribes,  who  dwelt  in  Westphalia,  and  the  surrounding 
country  east  of  the  Rhine.  They  confederated  to  resist  the 
Romans,  and  took  the  name  of  Franks,  or  Freemen.  From 
this  nation,  and  from  the  Burgundians,  with  some  other  inter- 
mixture of  the  Celtic  race,  and  including  that   population 


CLOSE    OF    THE    FIFTH    CENTURY.  O 

which  the  Romans  had  brought  into  Gaul,  the  French  nation 
of  the  present  day  are  descended. 

The  present  population  of  Spain  are  the  descendants  of 
Grecian  colonists,  who  had  settled  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
peninsula  before  the  Romans  had  risen  into  power,  and  also  of 
persons  introduced  while  Spain  was  a  Roman  province.  To 
these  are  to  be  added  the  Suevi  and  Visigoths,  and  the  Sara- 
cens or  Moors.  The  latter  conquered  and  held  the  south  of 
Spain  for  some  ag«s.  The  people  of  Italy,  of  the  present  day, 
are  the  descendants  of  the  mixed  race  whom  the  tribes  of 
barbarians  found  there,  as  Roman  subjects,  and  of  themselves. 
In  the  last  ages  of  the  Roman  empire  of  the  west,  great 
numbers  resorted  to  Italy  from  the  Greek,  Asiatic,  and  Afri- 
can provinces.  In  the  decline  of  the  empire,  barbarians  were 
enlisted  in  the  Roman  legions.  Besides  these,  there  were 
many  thousands  who  were  held  in  servitude,  and  who  were 
gathered  from  all  the  countries  which  the  Romans  had  con- 
quered. Thus,  the  population  of  Italy,  at  the  end  of  the  fifth 
century,  was  the  most  mixed  of  any  in  Europe. 

In  the  territory  before  mentioned,  having  the  Rhine  for  its 
western  boundary,  and  the  forty-seventh  degree  of  north  lati- 
tude for  its  southern  boundary,  many  different  nations  dwelt,  to 
whom  Tacitus  assigns  names  and  countries.  These  nations 
are  said,  by  the  German  historian  John  Von  Muller,  to  have 
had  the  general  name  of  Teutonic,  because  they  worshipped  a 
God  whom  they  called  Tuist,  or  Tuet.  The  Teutonic,  or 
ancient  parent  German  language,  comprised  the  Scandinavian, 
that  of  a  people  so  called,  who  dwelt  where  the  kingdoms  of 
Denmark  and  Sweden  now  are.  It  appears,  (Wheaton's  His- 
tory of  the  Northmen,)  that  the  Scandinavians  had  a  literature 
of  their  own,  and  an  alphabet  of  sixteen  letters,  believed  to  be 
derived  from  the  Phoenicians.  It  was  called  Runic,  a  term 
supposed  to  imply  mystery ;  and  was,  undoubtedly,  the  pecu- 
liar property  of  the  priesthood.  It  must  be  admitted,  that  no 
small  part  of  the  narratives  concerning  these  ancient  German 
people,  is  founded  more  in  conjecture  than  in  positive  facts. 

Most  of  the  languages  of  the  north  of  Europe  are  of  this 
Teutonic  class.  The  name  of  the  Saxons  occurs  in  this  north- 
ern region.  They  are  supposed  to  have  dwelt  on  the  shores 
near  Jutland,  and  near  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe,  and  west  of  that 
river  towards  Westphalia.  They  were  afterwards  known  as 
the  Saxon  race  in  England,  and  the  same  race  who  gave  their 
name  to  a  part  of  Germany  now  known  as  Saxony. 

Gibbon,  in  his  history  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman 
1* 


6  THE    POPULATION    OF    EUROPE    AT    THE 

Empire  says,  that  the  Goths  and  Vandals  were  similar,  if  not 
the  same  people  originally,  and  that  the  Goths  divided  into  the 
Ostrogoths,  (western,)  and  Visigoths,  (eastern,)  and  the  Gepidae. 
The  Vandals  he  considers  to  have  been  divided  into  the  Her- 
uli,  Burgundians,  and  Lombards,  (long  beards.)  About  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  (according  to  this  historian,) 
the  Goths  were  established  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Vis- 
tula, in  the  country  where  the  cities  of  Thorn,  Elbing,  Ko- 
ningsburg  and  Dantzic  now  are;  and  the  Vandals  in  the 
countries  where  Mecklenburgh  and  Pomerania  now  are. 
From  these  abodes  the  Goths  and  the  Vandals  migrated  to  the 
country  which  lies  north  of  the  Black  Sea,  within  the  two 
first  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  which  country  was  called 
Scythia.  The  supposition  is,  that  all  these  nations  were  origi- 
nally of  Asia,  and  this  is  more  certainly  assumed  of  the  Scla- 
vonians,  (so  called  from  slava,  fame,)  who  are  first  referred  to 
Sarmatia,  northwardly  of  the  Caspian  Sea.  It  is,  however,  of 
as  little  importance  as  of  certainty,  whether  these  conjectural 
localities  of  the  barbarians  are  well  founded  or  not.  Like  the 
natives  of  America,  it  is  probable  that  they  had  wars,  vicissitudes, 
and  changes,  throughout  centuries,  of  which  they  had  neither 
record  nor  tradition. 

There  was  one  other  and  distinct  people,  called  the  Huns, 
of  whom  no  doubt  seems  to  be  entertained  of  origin  or  prog- 
ress. All  writers  who  mention  this  people's  origin,  concur, 
that  they  were  masters  of  the  extreme  east  of  Asia,  and  occu- 
pied a  country  of  vast  extent  north  of  the  Chinese  wall,  (said 
to  be  fifteen  hundred  miles  in  length,)  arid  that  their  empire 
extended  to  the  North  Sea.  In  the  third  century  they  moved 
westward  by  the  north  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  subdued  all 
nations  with  whom  they  came  in  contact;  or  forced  them 
toward  the  west.  In  person,  habits,  and  manners,  the  Huns  were 
a  very  different  people  from  the  barbarians  of  Europe.  They 
were  short,  swarthy,  and  ill-formed ;  but  some  of  the  nations 
who  have  been  mentioned,  are  described  as  tall,  well-formed, 
of  light  complexion,  blue  eyes,  and  of  pleasing  expression. 
The  approach  of  the  Huns  was  the  cause  of  the  final  over- 
throw of  the  Romans.  The  nations  who  have  been  mentioned 
as  having  been  established  in  the  country  northwardly  of  the 
Caspian,  were  driven  on  to  the  Roman  territories.  The  Huns 
occupied  the  country  which  was  thus  deserted,  until  their 
increasing  numbers,  or  other  motives,  urged  them  to  the  west. 
Hungary,  so  called  from  them,  was  their  European  establish- 
ment.    But,  as  has  been  before  (in  the  first  volume)  remarked, 


CLOSE    OF   THE    FIFTH    CENTURY.  7 

they  appeared  in  Italy,  and  even  beyond  the  Rhine  in  France, 
under  their  great  chief,  Atilla. 

We  have  further  to  notice  the  barbarians,  in  regard  to  their 
characteristic  qualities,  because  these  have  a  direct  relation  to 
the  present  occupants  of  Europe.  It  is  believed  that  all  these 
qualities  are  described  by  historians  from  the  writings  of  Cae- 
sar and  Tacitus ;  the  former,  in  a  great  degree,  from  his  own 
observation;  the  latter  was  a  highly  accomplished  civilian, 
who  wrote  at  Rome  towards  the  close  of  the  first  century,  and 
whose  authority,  for  what  he  says  of  the  Germans,  may  have 
been  works  now  unknown.  However  this  may  have  been, 
his  writings  on  this  people  are  regarded,  by  all  subsequent 
historians,  as  worthy  of  confidence.  There  is  another  writer 
who  is  quoted  by  Gibbon,  Hallam,  and  others,  by  the  name  of 
Jornandes,  who  left  a  work  "  on  the  origin  and  affairs  of  the 
Goths."  He  died  towards  the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  his 
work  coming  down  to  the  year  552.  From  such  sources,  and 
with  the  aid  of  the  late  work  of  Von  Muller,  we  shall  con- 
dense an  account  of  these  founders  of  European  nations. 

Men,  civilized  or  savage,  have  the  same  natural  wants  and 
passions,  and  the  same  necessity  to  fill  up  with  action,  the  suc- 
cessive hours  of  life,  not  given  to  repose.  The  difference  is 
found  in  the  different  modes  of  gratification.  A  savage  may  have 
some  notion  of  exchanging  one  thing  for  another,  and  some  pleas- 
ure in  sounds,  and  in  objects  which  please  the  eye.  He  has  also 
some  idea  of  command  and  obedience,  and,  perhaps,  of  some 
rule  by  which  the  one  should  be  given,  and  the  other  rendered. 
He  has  some  sentiment  of  right  and  wrong,  and  consequently 
of  justice.  But  it  belongs  to  a  refined  age  to  have  carried  out 
these  original  perceptions  into  extensive  commerce,  music, 
painting,  literature,  records  of  the  past,  comprehension  of  the 
future,  complex  civil  government,  and  solemn  courts  of  justice. 
The  barbarians  will  be  remarked  upon  in  those  prominent 
qualities  which  will  show,  that  civilized  and  refined  society 
had  its  original  elements  among  them ;  and  thence  afford  the 
inference,  that  what  is  now  seen  in  society  arises  from  the 
capacity  to  improve.  This  capacity  is  far  from  having  ex- 
hausted its  powers.  It  will  be  further  used  in  extending  man's 
knowledge  over  the  material  objects,  and  in  the  utility  and 
duty  of  sound  moral  action. 

Food.  The  barbarians  depended  on  their  herds,  and  on  the 
game  which  their  forests  yielded.  They  made  an  intoxicating 
drink  from  wheat  or  barley,  and  must  have  known  something 
of  the  cultivation  of  the  earth.     Their  herds  afforded  them 


8         THE  POPULATION  OF  EUROPE  AT  THE 

not  only  milk,  but  they  knew  how  to  convert  this  into  cheese. 
There  were  some  native  fruits. 

Clothing.  For  this  they  depended  on  the  skins  of  the  ani- 
mals which  they  took,  and  on  their  flocks  and  herds.  Articles 
were  wrought  into  garments,  in  a  rude  manner,  by  females. 

Dwelling-places.  They  had  not  cities,  nor  towns,  nor  com- 
pact villages ;  their  abodes  were  placed  wherever  a  stream  or 
some  other  inducement  invited. 

Domestic  condition.  The  Germans  are  highly  extolled  by 
Tacitus,  for  some  conjugal  virtues ;  so  much  so,  that  he  was 
thought  to  have  intended  to  satirize  Roman  matrons,  in  his 
praise  of  these  virtues.  Certain  violations  of  these  rights,  of 
rare  occurrence,  were  punished  with  death.  Chiefs  were 
allowed  to  have  more  than  one  wife. 

Religion.  In  this  respect,  the  barbarians  were  a  rude  peo- 
ple. They  adored  whatsoever  objects  appeared  to  them  to 
have  power  or  influence  over  their  good  or  ill  fortune.  Hence 
arose  imaginary  deities,  as  common  among  all  savage  nations. 
They  supposed  these  objects  of  their  worship  to  reside  in  the 
recesses  of  their  thick,  dark  forests,  into  which  no  one  dared 
to  penetrate.  Certain  of  these  places  were  held. to  be  sacred* 
They  had  a  class  of  persons  who  resembled  a  similar  class 
among  the  American  Indians,  and  who  ministered  in  their 
sacrifices  and  ceremonies.  Some  of  these  nations  sacrificed 
human  beings.  Their  ministers  of  religion  held  a  superior 
rank,  since  they  were  supposed  to  be  able  to  foretell  the  will  of 
their  gods,  to  invoke  their  favor,  or  appease  their  wrath.  This 
was  the  office  of  the  priest  among  the  pagan  Greeks  and 
Romans. 

Bards.  All  these  nations  (like  the  Celts)  had'  a  class  of 
persons  who  said,  or  sung  history.  They  were  listened  to  at 
festivals;  and  they  roused  the  courage  of  warriors  at  the  com- 
ing on  of  battle.  In  this  is  seen  the  natural  desire  of  our  race 
to  extend  existence  beyond  the  short  term  allowed  to  individual 
life,  by  cherishing  and  transmitting  the  memory  of  the  past. 
It  shows,  also,  the  force  of  example,  and  the  propensity  to 
imitate,  and  that  they  must  be  truly  a  rude  people,  who  do  not 
feel  that  they  have  a  property  in  the  deeds  of  their  ancestors. 

Employment  of  time.  These  savages,  like  civilized  people, 
had  a  life  to  dispose  of,  time  to  fill  up,  and  the  necessity  of 
doing  something.  Having  neither  commerce,  literature,  the 
arts,  nor  agriculture, — and  the  supply  of  bodily  wants  being  had 
from  their  herds  or  the  chase, — their  time  was  mostly  given  to 
preparations  for  war,  and  to  carrying  it  on, — to  noisy  feasting 


CLOSE    OF    THE    FIFTH    CENTURY.  9 

and  to  gaming.  They  staked  all  their  possessions,  and  even 
personal  freedom,  on  the  chances  of  fortune.  A  warrior,  who 
would  have  thought  it  the  highest  glory  to  be  where  the 
hottest  battle  gave  the  certain  alternative  of  victory  or  death, 
would  submit  to  be  bound  and  led  away  as  a  slave,  if  so  the 
result  of  the  game  determined  his  lot.  This  desire  of  excite- 
ment is  equally  shown  in  what  is  called  civilized  life.  It  is  to 
be  regretted  that  gamblers  cannot  dispose  of  their  persons  as 
the  barbarians  did.  The  chief  occupation  in  barbarian  life 
was  war,  waged  for  plunder  and  for  glory.  This  serious 
measure  was  preceded  by  councils,  in  which  the  civil  or 
religious  chiefs  stated  the  case,  and  the  multitude  expressed 
their  negative  by  hisses  and  groans,  and  their  assent  by  strik- 
ing their  lances  on  their  shields.  They  were  brave  and  pow- 
erful warriors,  as  the  Romans  had  frequent  occasion  to  know. 
Their  conflicts  were  not  at  the  long  distance  which  the  use  of 
gunpowder  permits,  but  with  hand  weapons,  as,  some  sort  of 
pointed  lance,  or  short  sword.  The  women  were  often  spec- 
tators of  the  battle,  and  have  been  known  to  urge  their  flying 
husbands  and  sons  back  upon  the  foe,  and  sometimes  to  kill 
their  children,  and  then-  themselves,  rather  than  to  be  taken 
and  made  slaves. 

These  are  some  of  the  traits  of  the  rude  nations  who  were 
destined  to  extinguish  the  learning,  philosophy,  the  arts  and 
sciences  of  Greeks  and  Romans — to  cast  their  proud  monu- 
ments to  the  earth — and  to  give,  in  the  long  course  of  ages,  a 
new  and  worthier  character  to  the  world. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE    OF   THE    EAST. 

The  part  of  continental  Europe  which  remains  to  be 
noticed,  as  it  was  at  the  close  of  the  fifth  century,  is  that  which 
the  Romans  still  held.  It  will  be  remembered,  that  Constan- 
tine,  in  the  year  328,  removed  the  seat  of  empire  from  Rome 
to  ancient  Byzantium,  and  gave  to  that  city  his  own  name, 
which  it  still  retains.  Here  the  Roman  name  continued  until 
the  early  part  of  the  seventh  century,  when  the  eastern  empire 
began  to  be  called  by  the  name  of  the  Greek  empire,  and  so 
continued  to  be,  (with  the  exception  of  57  years,  from  1204  to 


10  THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE    OF    THE     EAST. 

1261,)  until  the  Turks,  in  the  year  1453,  possessed  themselves 
of  Constantinople,  and  have  held  it  to  the  present  day.  The 
limits  of  the  eastern  empire  in  Europe,  varied  in  this  long 
lapse  of  years.  They  sometimes  extended  to,  and  beyond  the 
Danube,  northwardly  ;  and  to  a  line  drawn  from  the  north  end 
of  the  Adriatic  Sea,  nearly  north  to  the  Danube,  and  included 
all  the  territory  in  Europe  between  the  Danube,  the  Adriatic, 
and  the  waters  which  flow  between  Europe  and  Asia,  and, 
consequently,  including  Greece  and  its  isles.  This  is  very 
nearly  the  same  territory  over  which  the  Turkish  empire 
extended  in  Europe,  before  Greece  was  severed  and  erected 
into  a  separate  kingdom,  in  our  own  time. 

Before  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  Constantine  and  his 
successors  had  enlarged  and  embellished  Constantinople,  and 
had  made  it  one  of  the  most  beautiful  cities  of  the  wrorld.  Its 
site  is  on  the  extreme  point  of  Europe,  near  the  forty-second 
degree  of  north  latitude,  opposite  to  the  western  shore  of  Asia 
Minor,  and  separated  from  that  shore  by  the  waters  which 
flow  from  the  Black  Sea  into  the  sea  of  Marmora.  This  cur- 
rent of  water  is  called  the  Bosphorus,  and  is  said  to  be  so 
called  (from  the  Greek)  because  oxen  could  swim  across  it. 
It  is  sixteen  miles  long,  and  of  an  average  breadth  of  one  mile 
and  a  half;  but,  in  one  place  only,  thirty-three  hundred  feet ; 
at  which  point,  Darius,  of  Persia,  in  the  year  513  B.  C,  con- 
structed his  bridge  of  boats,  in  pursuit  of  the  Scythians.  This 
place  is  capable  of  resisting  almost  any  assault,  being  of  trian- 
gular form,  and  having  two  sides  bounding  on  deep  waters, 
and  the  third  protected  by  a  wall.  In  eleven  centuries,  (330 
to  1453.)  it  had  been  taken  but  six  times. 

Whether  Constantine  foresaw  the  necessity  of  defence  against 
the  barbarians,  and  that  Rome  could  not,  and  that  Constanti- 
nople could  be  defended,  is  questionable.  It  is  more  probable 
that  vanity,  and  a  view  to  his  dominions  in  Asia,  may  rather 
have  been  among  his  motives.  He  still  ruled  over  Asia 
Minor,  Armenia,  Syria,  and  Egypt,  having  the  ancient  foes  of 
the  empire,  the  Persians  and  Parthians  for  his  eastern  bor- 
derers, in  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates. 

The  population  of  the  European  part  of  the  Roman  empire 
in  Europe,  had  become  a  very  mixed  one  before  the  end  of  the 
fifth  century,  and  was  especially  so  in  Constantinople.  There 
were  the  descendants  of  Romans,  who  had  removed  from  Italy, 
in  Constantine's  time ;  there  were  descendants  of  Greeks, 
Asiatics,  barbarians,  and  a  multitude  of  slaves.  There  were 
also  ecclesiastics  of  all  descriptions.     There  were  patricians, 


THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE    OF    THE     EAST.  11 

and  plebeians,  great  riches,  and  great  poverty ;  the  military- 
class,  comprising  many  grades,  and  of  motley  compound,  inso- 
lent and  rapacious.  The  forms  of  the  Christian  religion  were 
well  known  to  this  collection  of  human  beings,  who  were, 
nevertheless,  strangers  to  its  morality.  One  cannot  easily 
decide  which  that  city  of  the  earth  is,  wherein  there  has  been 
the  greatest  amount  of  splendor,  crime,  wickedness,  and  mis- 
ery. It  is  probable  that  this  city  would  stand  high,  if  not 
highest,  in  the  claim  to  this  distinction.  In  the  notices  of 
"the  Church,"  which  are  hereafter  to  be  made,  there  will  be 
occasion  to  return  to  Constantinople.  At  present  we  have 
only  to  inquire  how  the  people  of  this  city  disposed  of  their 
time,  and  what  were  the  objects  of  desire,  and  means  of  grati- 
fication. 

This  numerous  collection  of  persons  were  to  be  fed,  clothed, 
and  sheltered.  Food  must  have  been  had  by  agricultural 
labor,  which  was  applied  mostly  by  the  slaves  of  great  landed 
proprietors,  who  held  estates  in  Asia  Minor,  and  in  ancient 
Greece,  and  in  the  country  around  Constantinople.  Supplies 
of  grain  were  had  from  Egypt  and  from  Sicily,  and  perhaps 
grain,  and  certainly  fish,  from  the  Black  Sea.  There  must 
have  been  some  means  of  paying  for  these  necessaries,  which 
were  found,  in  the  expenditures  of  the  Emperor,  to  sustain  the 
numerous  officers  and  agents  necessary  to  his  magnificence; 
and  his  treasury  was  supplied  by  various  forms  of  taxation. 
Within  the  city  there  must  have  been  artificers  of  many  sorts, 
who  derived  their  subsistence  from  the  affluent.  The  means 
of  knowing  by  whom,  and  to  what  extent,  commerce  was 
carried  on,  are  few  ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  there  was  a 
valuable  commerce  between  Constantinople  and  Asia  Minor, 
Egypt,  and  the  east  end  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea;  and  prob- 
ably from  the  east,  by  the  way  of  the  Caspian  and  the  Euxine. 

Whatsoever  may  have  been  the  employments  in  serious 
labor,  to  supply  continually  returning  wants,  there  must  have 
been  no  small  portion  of  time  which  was  given  to  pleasures 
and  amusements,  and  perhaps  to  the  performance  of  some  sorts 
of  duty.  The  church  ceremonies  may  have  furnished  some 
occupation.  The  movements  of  the  Emperor,  and  of  his  reti- 
nue, may  have  furnished  objects  of  attention,  because  it  ap- 
pears that  the  people  retained  some  sense  of  the  ultimate  sove- 
reignty which  had  been  formerly  exercised  in  Rome.  The 
wars  in  which  the  Emperors  were  engaged,  either  on  the 
eastern  frontier,  or  with  the  barbarians  nearer  home,  were 
subjects  of  excitement.     As  there  were  no  printed  bulletins  in 


/ 


12  THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE    OF    THE     EAST. 

those  days,  curiosity  must  have  depended  on  verbal  communi- 
cations. There  were,  probably,  popular  orators,  who  had 
numerous  auditors.  The  succession  to  the  throne  was  an 
object  of  general  interest.  This  was  frequently  effected  by 
violence  and  crime,  and  every  new  Emperor  or  Empress,  had 
numerous  favorites  to  reward,  and  enemies  to  punish.  There 
were  besides,  pageantry  and  shows,  which  wrere  connected 
with  the  court,  and  some  amusements  intended  more  especially 
for  the  populace.  There  is,  in  Gibbon,  some  illustration  of 
the  manner  in  which  time  was  passed  in  this  city. 

The  entertainment  of  the  chariot  races  was  conducted  at  the 
public  expense  in  the  hippodrome,  a  word  composed  of  two 
Greek  words,  signifying  horse  and  race-course.  This  place 
was  a  splendid  edifice,  surrounded  by  columns  and  adorned  by 
statuary ;  it  still  exists.  It  was  nearly  two  thousand  feet  in 
length,  and  five  hundred  in  breadth.  It  was  capable  of  con- 
taining a  great  multitude,  and  leave  space  for  the  exhibition. 
There  were  charioteers  by  profession,  and  the  races  were  con- 
ducted by  them,  and  not  as  at  the  Olympic  games,  where  the 
contest  for  skill  was  among  the  most  eminent  of  the  Greeks. 
The  contending  parties  were  distinguished  by  four  different 
Colors  in  their  dress,  blue,  green,  white,  or  red.  This  distinc- 
tion had  prevailed  in  Rome.  Out  of  these  colors,  parties  were 
engendered  of  hostile  character,  which  involved  all  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  city,  and  even  the  Emperor.  In  the  time  of  Jus- 
tinian, about  the  year  532,  these  factions  perpetrated  the  most 
horrid  crimes,  filled  the  whole  city  with  terror,  and  came  near 
to  forcing  the  Emperor  to  seek  safety  by  flight  into  Asia. 

There  were  splendid  theatrical  exhibitions  and  dancing 
women. ^These  entertainments  were  also  conducted  at  the 
public  expense.  The  reputatkm  of  those  who  were  perform- 
ers was  of  the  lowest  order^)  Yet  Justinian  (whose  name  is 
associated  with  the  code  of  laws,  which  is  the  law,  with  vari- 
ous modifications,  in  most  of  the  present  nations  of  Europe,) 
raised  Theodora,  a  theatrical  performer,  to  the  throne.  If 
Gibbon's  account  of  this  female  be  credited,  she  was,  in  some 
respects,  much  the  superior  of  her  husband.  The  wife  of  the 
renowned  Belisarius,  whom  there  will  be  occasion  to  men- 
tion in  Justinian's  reign,  was  a  person  of  the  same  order,  and 
even  more  infamous  than  Theodora,  with  whom  she  was,  at 
different  times,  the  subservient  friend  and  implacable  foe. 
From  such  facts,  some  conclusion  may  be  drawn  as  to  the 
manners  and  morals  of  this  splendid  seat  of  empire,  about  the 
close  of  the  fifth  century;  and  in  what  manner  its  inhabitants 


RELIGION    AT    THE    END    OF    THE    FIFTH    CENTURY.  13 

supplied  the  demand  for  occupation.  These  remarks  are  not  lim- 
ited to  the  city  of  Constantinople.  They  are  equally  applicable  to 
most  of  the  935  cities  within  the  sixty-four  provinces,  over  which 
Justinian  was  monarch,  near  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century. 
The  utility  of  stating  these  facts  may  be  found  in  this :  They 
furnish  the  means  of  making  a  comparison  on  the  condition 
of  the  Roman  empire  of  the  east,  and  that  of  communities  in 
modern  days,  especially  in  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    STATE    OF    RELIGION    AT   THE    END    OF   THE    FIFTH    CENTURY. 

The  history  of  nations  and  events  would  be  greatly  defec- 
tive, if  it  did  not  notice  the  religious  belief  which  has  prevailed 
from  time  to  time,  and  the  effect  which  it  has  had  in  producing 
temporal  good  or  evil.  This  subject,  on  such  an  occasion  as 
this,  can  only  be  treated  of  with  regard  to  mere  historical  facts. 

At  the  time  of  the  revelation  of  Christianity,  there  existed 
the  Jewish  faith,  debased  and  perplexed  with  sects,  each  of 
which  had  its  own  forms  and  ceremonies.  Among  nearly  all 
other  people,  who  professed  any  religion,  polytheism  (two 
Greek  words,  which  signify  many  gods,)  prevailed.  This 
portion  of  mankind  were  called  heathen  by  the  Christians. 
They  are  spoken  of  by  historians  under  the  name  of  pagans, 
which  word,  as  well  as  heathen,  like  many  others,  indicate 
nothing  of  original  use.  The  word  pagan  was  not  in  use 
until  about  the  year  333,  when  Constantine,  in  support  of 
Christianity,  prohibited,  under  severe  penalties,  all  sacrifices 
to  imaginary  gods.  Those  who  still  adhered  to  polytheism, 
withdrew  to  the  villages,  the  Latin  name  for  which  is  <pagusy 
whence  the  name  of  pagans  was  given  to  the  polytheists,  or 
idolators.  The  word  heathen  is  of  like  origin.  It  is  derived 
from  a  Greek  word  which  means  heath,  and  grew  into  com- 
mon use  to  distinguish  the  rest  of  mankind  from  the  Jews,  and 
after  revelation,  to  distinguish  them  also  from  Christians,  as 
well  as  from  the  Jews.*^  It  is  supposed,  that  the  world  was 

*  Such  is  the  commonly  received  origin  of  the  terms  pagan  and  hea- 
then. But  Gibbon,  (Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,)  in  a  note 
to  chapter  xxi.  says:  JTayrj.'m  the  (Doric)  Greek  signifies  fountain  ;  the 
rural  neighborhood  which  frequented  the  same  fountain,  had  the  appel- 
lation of  pagus  or  pagans.  This  word  was  corrupted  into  peasants,  in 
2 


14  THE    STATE    OF    RELIGION    AT 

never  more  depraved  and  profligate,  at  any  time,  than  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  erav^The  oracles  had  lost  their 
influence ;  fear  and  reverence  $r  the  gods,  so  conspicuous  in 
Grecian  and  Roman  ceremonies,  had  declined,  and  had  become 
forms  which  habit  only  consecrated.  If  there  were  ever  a 
time  when  the  accountablene$s  of  man  for  acts  done  in  this 
life,  required  a  new  revelation,  it  was  at  the  time  when  it 
came. 

During  the  first  century,  there  appears  to  have  been  churches 
established  at  Antioch,  and  in  several  cities  in  Asia  Minor, 
and  especially  the  "  seven  churches,"  in  one  of  which,  that  of 
Ephesus,  St.  John  ministered  towards  the  close  of  his  long 
life.  Other  churches  arose  in  the  Grecian  territory,  and 
afterwards  at  Rome,  and  in  the  west  of  Europe.  The  Chris- 
tians were,  at  first,  merely  brotherly  associations,  governed  by 
their  own  rules,  and  so  continued  to  be,  throughout  the  three 
("first  centuries,  and  the  beginning  of  the  fourth.  During  this 
time  the  ten  persecutions  occurred,  and  the  martyrs  suffered. 
Some  of  these  persecutions  were  carried  on  by  order  of  the 
Emperors,  especially  Diocletian,  and  some  of  them  are  said  to 
have  been  popular  tumults  excited  by  polytheists.  In  this 
space  of  time  arose  numerous  heresies,  which  were  supported 
"and  resisted  with  party  zeal,  among  the  Christians  themselves. 
The  original  meaning  of  the  word  heresy,  was  choice  ;  but  it 
soon  acquired,  and  has  retained,  a  very  different  meaning. 

When  it  is  considered  that  the  subtle,  metaphysical  learn- 
ing of  the  Greeks,  was  almost  the  only  learning  which  then 
prevailed,  it  is  easy  to  suppose  that  it  would  find  its  way  into 
the  societies  of  Christians.  It  certainly  did  so  ;  and,  from  the 
natural  propensities  of  human  nature,  as  well  known  at  this 
day  as  then,  opinions  were  maintained  with  very  honest  and 
unyielding  pertinacity.  Already  there  were  bishops,  which 
word,  originally,  meant  overseers.  There  were,  also,  pres- 
byters, the  original  meaning  of  which  (from  the  Greek,)  was 
elder  ;  a  word  since  used  to  designate  a  denomination  of  Chris- 
tians. The  bishop  and  the  presbyters  formed  the  council  for 
the  government  of  the  church,  and  they  held  their  offices  in 
virtue  of  election  by  the  members.  In  the  differences  which 
arose  on  matters  of  faith,  there  was  no  mode  of  expressing 
dissatisfaction  but  by  excommunication  ;  that  is,  by  denying  to 

the  modern  languages  of  Europe.  He  says,  also,  that  all  who  were  not 
of  the  military  classes  among  the  Romans  were  called,  contemptuously, 

Jiagans.  As  Christianity  prevailed,  the  ancient  religion  retired,  and 
anguished  in  the  villages. 


THE    END    OF    THE    FIFTH    CENTURY.  15 

the  person  who  thought  differently  from  those  of  his  society, 
the  rights  and  benefits  of  fellowship.  It  amounted  to  no  more 
than  turning  a  member  out  of  a  society,  a  power  which  cannot 
be  denied  to  any  voluntary  association.  We  shall  hereafter 
see  what  a  tremendous  and  terrifying  authority  this  act  of 
excommunication  came  to  be,  throughout  the  whole  of  Christ- 
endom. It  will  not  be  attempted  to  define  the  numerous  here- 
sies, as  they  were  called,  which  arose  in  the  three  first  centu- 
ries, nor  any  of  them  ;  nor  to  notice,  by  name,  the  writers, 
who  are  commonly  called  the  Fathers,  and  who  took  part  on 
the  one  side  or  the  other.  This  properly  belongs  to  church 
history. 

Some  of  the  Christians  were  driven,  by  cruel  persecutions, 
out  of  the  Roman  territories.  They  had  no  resort  but  to  the 
barbarians,  who  were  already  every  where  on  the  Roman 
frontiers,  in  Europ^^The  knowledge  of  the  Christian  faith 
was  communicatee™  the  barbarians  by  these  fugitives.  In 
the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  Christians  had  become  divi- 
ded into  two  parties,  the  one  of  which  were  called  Arians, 
after  a  presbyter  of  the  church  of  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  and 
the  other  were  the  followers  of  the  Nicene  creed,  solemnly 
adopted  by  a  numerous  convention  of  bishops  and  prelates  at 
the  city  of  Nice,  about  seventy  miles  south-east  of  Constanti- 
nople, in  Asia  Minor.  This  council  was  held  in  the  year 
325.  Constantine  was  present.  These  two  divisions  seem 
to  have  included,  on  the  one  side  and  the  other,  all  other  divi- 
sions. Towards  the  close  of  the  fourth  century,  a  person  by 
the  name  of  Ulphilas,  employed  himself  in  teaching  the  Arian 
tenets  to  the  Goths,  who  were  then  established  southwardly  of 
the  Danube.  He  translated  the  Gospels  into  the  Gothic  lan- 
guage. The  opinions  which  he  taught  were  transmitted  to 
other  tribes,  and  circulated  extensively  into  Germany.  Other 
barbarians  afterwards  adopted  the  Nicene  tenets,  and  those  of 
Arian  ceased  among  them  all,  in  the  course  of  the  sixth 
century.  It  w7ill  be  seen,  hereafter,  that  the  conversion  of  the 
barbarians  forms  an  important  circumstance  in  the  great  train 
of  events. 

But  a  much  more  important  event  is  the  real  or  supposed 
conversion  of  Constantine,  about  the  year  320,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Christian  religion  as  the  only  one  to  be  known 
in  the  empire.  Christians  were  now  honored  and  employed 
by  the  political  authority ;  and  the  Emperor  was  the  supreme 
potentate  in  the  church.  This  we  take  to  be  the  first  step  in 
what  has  since  been  called  the  union  of  the  church  and  state  ; 


16  THE    STATE    OF    RELIGION    AT 

a  union  which  has  produced  no  small  portion  of  the  miseries 
of  the  civilized  world.  It  was  placing  Christianity  in  the 
same  relation  to  political  authority,  which  religion  had  sus- 
tained with  Asiatics,  Egyptians,  Greeks,  and  Romans.  Among 
idolators,  who  had  no  vindictive  sects,  that  relation  had  its 
benefits.  There  are  many  (at  least  in  Europe)  who  think  the 
like  relation,  as  to  Christianity,  should  be  sacredly  preserved. 
Such  opinions  are  probably  rare  in  the  United  States,  if  they 
exist  at  all.  As  early  as  the  middle  of  the  second  century, 
there  were  conventions  of  the  leading  men  in  the  churches. 
These  conventions  afterwards  had  the  name  of  councils,  and 
also  of  synods,  from  a  Greek  word  of  the  same  signification. 
When  difficulties  in  matters  of  faith  arose  among  the  Christ- 
ians, conventions  of  bishops,  presbyters,  and  sometimes  of 
other  prelates  or  persons,  were  held  for  the  purpose  of  settling 
them:  When  Christianity  became  the  established  religion, 
these  councils  became  authorative,  and  their  decisions  conclu- 
sive in  matters  of  faith  and  practice.  They  were  of  frequent 
occurrence  until  the  supreme  authority  was  assumed  by  the 
bishop  of  Rome,  under  the  name  of  Pope  ;  (papa,  father.) 

In  all  assemblies  there  is  one,  or  there  are  a  few,  to  whom 
the  first  rank  is,  from  some  cause,  assigned.  This  rank  fell 
in  consequence  of  causes,  which  it  will  come  in  course  here- 
after to  state,  to  the  bishop  of  Rome.  At  the  close  of  the  fifth 
century  the  bishop  had,  by  consent,  or  gradual  assumption,  an 
authority  in  the  affairs  of  the  church,  which  belonged  to  no 
other  one.  It  will  be  seen  how  this  authority  was  extended 
and  enforced  in  future  ages,  and  what  a  commanding  power 
arose  and  was  exercised  throughout  Europe,  in  the  name  of 
the  representative  of  St.  Peter. 

It  thus  appears,  that  the  Christian  religion  had  become  the 
only  religion  professed  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  vast 
empire  of  the  Romans,  Judaism  only  excepted.  It  had  pene- 
trated beyond  Roman  limits,  among  barbarians.  It  had,  how- 
ever, already  become  corrupted  and  debased,  from  many 
natural  causes.  The  church  had  acquired  riches  and  influ- 
ence, and  some  of  its  prelates  sought  and  exercised  very 
important  powers.  Before  this  time,  (the  end  of  the  fifth  cen- 
tury,) the  opinion  was  entertained,  by  some  Christians,  that 
revelation  enjoined  privations  and  austerities  to  the  full  extent 
which  human  nature  can  endure  without  destroying  life.  It 
was  also  believed,  by  some,  that  the  true  faith  demanded  a 
separation  from  the  world,  celibacy,  (from  the  Latin  calibatus, 
a   single  life,)  and  a  whole  life  of  penance.     Hence  arose 


THE    END    OF    THE    FIFTH     CENTURY.  17 

monastic  (sole,  or  separate)  establishments,  first  in  Egypt  and 
western  Asia,  and  afterwards  throughout  Europe.  St.  Bene- 
dict may  be  considered  the  principal  promoter,  if  not  the 
founder,  of  monastic  establishments.  He  was  born  at  Norcia, 
in  the  duchy  of  Spoleto,  near  Rome,  in  480.  When  he  was 
only  fourteen  years  old,  he  retired  to  a  cavern,  in  the  desert  of 
Subiaco,  forty  miles  from  Rome,  and  dwelt  there  for  three 
years  in  solitude.  He  came  forth,  and  founded  several  monas- 
teries. About  the  year  515,  he  drew  up  the  rules  of  monkish 
life,  which  were  observed  by  all  the  monks  in  the  west  of 
Europe.  By  these  rules,  he  required  instruction  in  reading, 
writing,  cyphering,  and  in  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  and 
also  in  the  mechanic  arts.  There  were  rules  for  dress  and 
food.  He  established  libraries,  and  employed  those  who  could 
write,  but  who  were  unable  to  labor  in  any  other  way,  to  copy 
manuscripts.  The  Benedictine  orders  bear  his  name ;  and 
some  of  this  order  contributed  to  preserve  ancient  manuscripts, 
some  of  which  proved  to  be  literary  treasures.  The  memory 
of  St.  Benedict  is  cherished  among  Catholics.  His  rules  fur- 
nished the  models  for  subsequent  orders. 

In  Egypt,  and  the  country  east  of  the  Mediterranean,  quite 
to  the  end  of  the  empire  in  that  direction,  the  most  secluded 
spots  were  chosen  for  these  devout  abodes.  Some  individuals 
dwelt  in  perfect  solitude,  subsisting  on  such  products  of  the 
wilderness  as  could  be  had  without  labor  ;  while  others  formed 
societies  and  erected  places  of  abode.  The  most  remarkable 
of  all  the  modes  of  devotion  to  a  holy  life,  is  found  among  the 
Stylites,  or  pillar-saints ;  and  the  most  remarkable  among 
these  was  Symeon.  Of  this  person,  several  writers  relate, 
that,  about  the  year  427,  he  retired  to  a  mountain  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Antioch,  where  he  erected  a  pillar,  which  was 
gradually  increased  to  the  height  of  sixty  feet.  On  the  top  of 
this  pillar  he  established  his  residence,  and  endured  there  the 
heat  of  thirty  summers,  and  the  cold  of  as  many  winters, 
without  descending  from  it,  and  there  ended  his  life.  If  the 
wonderful  narrations  concerning  this  person  are  credited,  he 
supplied  the  wants  of  nature  by  one  frugal  meal  in  a  week, 
and  the  need  of  clothing  by  a  wrapper  of  skin,  and  the  demand 
for  occupation  by  bodily  action,  in  homage,  worship,  and 
prayer.  Sometimes  he  bent  forward  his  slender  frame  till  his 
forehead  touched  his  feet ;  and  Gibbon  says,  that  one  spectator 
counted  1244  repetitions  of  this  act,  and  "then  desisted  from 
the  endless  account."  Symeon  was  visited  by  thousands,  and 
by  one,  if  not  by  two  Emperors,  and  was  regarded  as  a  person 
2* 


18  THE    FEUDAL    SYSTEM. 

worthy  to  be  counselled  with  in  serious  affairs.  It  does  not 
appear  whether  he  was  the  first  of  this  class  of  devotees,  but 
his  eminence  gave  names  to  the  class ;  and  a  modern  writer  of 
high  respectability  says,  "  that  the  Stylites,  under  the  names 
of  '  Holy  Birds  '  and  ■  Aerial  Martyrs,'  peopled  the  columns 
of  the  east."     (Waddington's  Church  History.) 

One  who  considers  the  condition  of  mankind  in  all  the  long 
course  of  time  over  which  history  extends,  may  imagine  that 
the  Creator  has  some  great  purpose  to  effect  with  our  race, 
however  incompetent  mortals  may  be  to  discern  it.  One  pur- 
pose has  been  solemnly  revealed  as  to  this  life  and  future 
destiny,  first  by  inspiration,  and  then  through  secondary 
causes,  or  human  action.  Displeasing  as  the  corruptions, 
absurdities,  abuses,  persecutions,  and  fanaticism  of  the  early 
ages  may  appear  to  this  comparatively  enlightened  one,  these 
may  have  been  means  of  advancing  the  Christian  faith.  This, 
like  pure  gold,  however  alloyed,  changed  in  form,  or  renew- 
edly  stamped,  is  still  the  same  in  its  original  nature,  and  may 
be  made  to  reassume  that  by  human  skill.  Counterfeited  it 
may  be,  suspected  and  doubted,  but  this  tends  only  to  show  its 
real  worth,  when  that  can  be  discerned.  Nothing  has  hitherto 
occurred  concerning  the  Christian  revelation,  'which  its  Di- 
vine author  did  not  foretell.  Be  it  remembered,  also,  as  com- 
ing from  the  same  high  authority,  that  Christianity  shall  be 
the  religion  of  all  the  earth.  . 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE    FEUDAL   SYSTEM. 


In  the  work  entitled  Universal  History,  :<  by  the  Hon.  Al- 
exander Fraser  Tytler,  Lord  Woodhouselee,"  the  pages  63  to 
69  of  the  second  volume,  are  devoted  to  the  origin  of  the 
Feudal  System.  The  author  first  discusses  the  relation  of 
patron  and  client,  which  he  considers  to  have  been  known  to 
the  ancient  Gauls,  as  well  as  to  the  Romans ;  and  to  have 
been  distinct  from  the  feudal  tenure  of  land.  His  next  posi- 
tion is,  that  the  distribution  of  lands  was  of  Roman  origin,  and 
made  as  a  reward  to  the  soldiery ;  and  the  bcneficiarii,  so  fre- 
quently mentioned  in  Roman  authors,  was  the  Roman  name 
for  these  rewards.  His  third  position  is,  that  when  the  Franks 
invaded  Gaul,  they  found  that  country  so  partitioned ;  and  that 


THE    FEUDAL    SYSTEM.  19 

they  (the  Franks)  did  nothing  more  than  to  confirm  the  ten- 
ants, on  certain  conditions,  mutually  acceptable.  Mr.  Tytler's 
fourth  position  is,  that  "  the  chiefs,  or  kings,  had  no  land  to 
bestow."  (page  66.)  He  cites  a  passage  from  Eginhart's  Life 
of  Charlemagne,  (which  relates  to  the  state  of  affairs  in  the 
early  part  of  the  ninth  century,)  to  show  the  poverty  of  the 
Frankish  kings.  The  views  of  this  learned  author  are  open 
to  many  objections ;  and  no  one  who  has  studied  the  feudal 
system,  can  admit  that  Mr.  Tytler  has  successfully  contro- 
verted the  opinions  of  Pasquier,  Mably,  Condillac,  and  Rob- 
ertson, whom  he  mentions  as  being  in  error. 

The  opinions  of  this  gentleman  are  entirely  his  own ;  and 
differ  from  those  of  every  author  on  the  feudal  system,  with 
whose  writings  we  are  acquainted.  Among  those  who  may 
be  mentioned  as  opposed  to  him,  are,  Caesar,  Tacitus,  Jornan- 
des ;  the  celebrated  lawyer,  Thomas  Littleton  ;  his  learned 
commentator,  Lord  Coke;  Sir  Matthew  Hale,  Sir  W.  Black- 
stone  ;  Francis  S.  Sullivan,  Royal  Professor  of  Common  Law 
in  the  University  of  Dublin  ;  (Treatise  on  Feudal  Tenures ;) 
Baron  Montesquieu,  Dr.  Robertson,  Hume,  Gibbon,  Hallam, 
Mcintosh.  Lastly,  M.  Koch,  a  German,  whose  work  appears 
in  a  French  version  under  the  name  of  Tableau  des  Revolu- 
tions de  L'Europe,  and  which  received  the  highest  commenda- 
tion from  many  learned  men  and  literary  institutions. 

The  substance  of  all  the  opinions  of  these  writers,  and  of 
many  others  who  might  be  mentioned,  are  summed  up  by 
Koch,  vol.  i.  p.  22:  "It  was  usual  among  the  chiefs  of  the 
ancient  Germans,  both  in  peace  and  in  war,  to  have  a  numer- 
ous train  of  young  brave  warriors  attached  to  their  persons. 
Besides  food,  these  chiefs  furnished  them  with  arms  and 
horses,  and  divided  with  them  the  spoils  of  war.  This  usage 
existed  after  the  Germans  established  themselves  in  the  empire 
of  the  west.  The  kings,  and,  after  their  example,  the  chiefs, 
continued  to  entertain  a  great  number  of  companions  and  fol- 
lowers, and,  for  the  purpose  of  having  them  subjected  to  com- 
mand, gave  them,  in  place  of  arms  and  horses,  the  enjoyment 
of  certain  portions  of  land,  which  they  (the  chiefs)  separated 
from  their  own  dominions." 

If  Tytler  is  right,  and  Koch  and  all  others  wrong,  he  is 
not  consistent  with  himself  in  his  account  of  the  conquest  and 
partition  of  England,  by  William  L,  commonly  called  the 
Conqueror.  He  agrees  with  other  historians  on  this  subject, 
vol.  ii.  p.  131  and  seq.  That  partition  may  be  considered  as 
an  exact  representation,  in  principle,  of  the  manner  in  which 


20  THE    FEUDAL   SYSTEM. 

the  invaders  of  the  empire  of  the  west  disposed  of  the  newly- 
acquired  lands.  The  history  of  western  Europe  depends  on 
the  admission  of  this  feudal  theory,  and  is  irreconcilable  with 
any  other. 

The  chain  of  cause  and  effect,  from  500  to  1500,  cannot  be 
traced  in  western  Europe,  without  the  feudal  system  (as  com- 
monly received)  for  a  guide.  The  social,  the  political,  the 
military,  and  even  the  ecclesiastical  condition  of  society,  were 
only  modifications  of  that  system.  So  much  of  the  present 
state  of  nations  in  western  Europe,  and  even  of  our  own 
nation,  is  derived  from  that  system,  that  no  apology  is  neces- 
sary for  sketching  its  origin  and  progress.  The  subject  is 
uninviting,  dry,  tedious,  but  is  essential.  Whoever  will  take 
the  labor  of  understanding  it,  will  find  in  it  the  solution  of  all 
historical  difficulties. 

By  the  "  Feudal  System"  is  meant,  the  rights  of  property 
in  lands,  the  manner  in  which  they  were  held,  used,  surren- 
dered, conveyed,  or  forfeited  ;  the  various  and  reciprocal  obli- 
gations of  the  land  proprietor,  and  of  his  tenants  ;  having,  for 
their  principal  end,  a  military  organization  for  wars  of  defence 
and  aggression. 

The  term  feudal  is  derived  from  feodum,  and  this  from  odt 
which  meant,  in  the  language  of  the  ancient  Germans,  pos- 
session, or  estate  in  lands ;  and  from  feo,  meaning  wages  or 
pay ;  and  both  together  signified  that  it  was  a  right  to  posses- 
sion and  use,  granted  as  a  recompense  for  services  to  be  per- 
formed. From  this  root  come  the  words  fee,  feud,  feif,  feudal, 
all  of  which  had  reference  to  the  tenure  of  lands  on  some 
conditions  of  service.  The  feudal  tenures,  although  they 
became,  finally,  almost  the  only  ones  throughout  Europe, 
were  essentially  distinguished  from  the  tenure  called  allodial. 
Allodial  lands  were  those  held  by  lot,  among  the  original  con- 
querors of  the  country.  The  word  allodial  is  derived  from 
two  words,  an,  signifying  land,  and  lot,  meaning  land  obtained 
by  lot,  on  the  original  partition.  The  owner  of  allodial  lands 
held  of  no  superior,  but  was  absolute  owner.  He  was,  never- 
theless, obliged  to  perform  duties  in  warfare,  not  in  virtue  of 
the  tenure  of  land,  but  in  his  character  of  citizen  or  subject. 
Although  the  feudal  system,  properly  so  called,  was  not  estab- 
lished in  Europe  till  the  tenth  century,  yet  the  elements  out  of 
which  it  arose,  are  found  as  early  as  the  barbarian  conquests 
which  occurred  five  hundred  years  earlier.  It  is,  therefore, 
necessary  to  consider  the  barbarian  practices  on  the  acquisition 
of  any  new  territory. 


THE    FEUDAL    SYSTEM.  21 

The  feudal  system  is  supposed  to  have  originated  with  the 
ancient  inhabitants  of  Germany,  who  were  known  under  vari- 
ous names.  From  Tacitus,  (the  writer  commonly  cited  by 
historians  on  the  usages  of  these  tribes,)  it  appears,  that  their 
principal  occupation  was  war.  Some  highly  distinguished 
chief  gathered  around  him  a  band  of  volunteers,  who  devoted 
themselves  to  follow  him  ;  and  it  was  the  object  of  his  ambition 
to  have  the  greatest  number  of  the  most  skilful  and  valiant. 
They  were  his  companions  in  peace,  his  faithful  supporters  in 
battle.  They  were  sustained  by  the  chief,  and  his  means  were 
derived  from  the  plunder  of  enemies.  These  chiefs,  with  such 
followers,  became  terrible  as  enemies,  and  were  courted  and 
compensated  as  allies.  Tacitus  says  of  them, — "  In  the  day  of 
battle  it  is  infamous  for  the  prince  to  be  surpassed  in  feats  of 
bravery;  infamous  for  the  followers  to  fail  in  matching  the 
valor  of  the  prince;  an  indelible  reproach  to  return  alive  from 
battle  wherein  *the  prince  was  slain."  The  barbarians,  who 
possessed  themselves,  as  has  been  before  shown,  of  France, 
Italy,  and  Spain,  had  similar  usages.  They  made  slaves  of 
all  conquered  persons,  and  divided  new  territories  among 
themselves.  The  chief,  it  is  supposed,  had  a  much  larger 
allotment  than  his  followers,  and  these,  probably,  shared  accord- 
ing to  some  scale  of  rank  and  merit.  It  is  probable,  also,  that 
this  partition  of  lands  was  not  originally  attended  by  any  obli- 
gation to  serve  in  the  wars  of  the  prince,  as  this  obligation 
existed  at  all  times.  But  it  may  be  presumed,  that  those  infe- 
riors who  became  tenants  of  the  lands  reserved  to  the  chief, 
and  those  who  were  tenants  of  the  chief's  companions,  were 
held  to  some  service  from  the  earliest  times.  It  is  no  other- 
wise important  to  know  how  this  original  tenure  and  posses- 
sion was  managed,  than  to  find  in  them  the  elements  of  that 
policy,  which,  at  a  future  time,  settled  all  the  political  and 
social  relations  of  society.  So  much  seems  to  be  certain,  that 
the  prince  and  his  friends  or  companions  shared  the  conquered 
territory,  and  that  both  he  and  they  had  tenants  and  depend- 
ants, who  held  under  them ;  and  that  there  were  slaves  who 
were  employed  in  the  labors  of  agriculture.  The  prince,  or 
chief,  was  the  lord  over  all,  from  the  original  form  of  barbarian 
association  ;  but  his  followers  and  companions  were  lords  over 
those  among  whom  they  parcelled  out  their  lands.  It  often 
happened  that  the  same  person  held  lands  of  two  or  more 
lords,  at  the  same  time.  Those  who  were  enfeoffed,  or  consti- 
tuted tenants,  were  called  vassals,  a  word  taken  from  the  Ger- 
man, gesellen,  meaning  companions,  and  converted  into  the 


22  THE    FEUDAL    SYSTEM. 

barbarous  Latin  word  vassallus,  whence  vassal ;  and  this  word, 
in  time,  acquired  the  meaning  of  servitude,  as  the  feudal  sys- 
tem changed  from  its  original  structure. 

There  may  be  discerned,  in  these  usages,  the  origin  of  the 
orders  of  society  which  afterwards  arose  in  Europe,  and 
which,  with  some  inevitable  changes,  still  continue.  The 
great  landholders  assumed  dignity  correspondent  to  territorial 
possessions.  They  were  soon  regarded  as  the  lords  of  the 
soil.  Thus  nobility  sprang  from  the  right  of  property  in  the 
land.  Besides  this  claim  to  distinction,  the  chief  bestowed 
upon  his  favorites  portions  of  the  territory  allotted  to  him ;  and 
in  virtue  of  this  benefice,  as  it  was  called,  they  also  became 
lords.  Wealth  or  talents,  or  the  having  that  which  others 
have  not,  and  cannot  have  ;  or  the  being  that  which  others 
would,  but  cannot  be,  naturally  inspires  the  sentiment  of  supe- 
riority. Hence,  one  can  readily  account  for  that  lordly  gran- 
deur which  the  great  landholders  assumed  in  the  middle  ages. 

However  contemptible  this  assumption  may,  in  some  instan- 
ces, appear  to  be  at  the  present  day,  it  was  founded  then  on 
the  distinction  of  military  glory,  which  has  had  a  powerful: 
influence  in  every  age.  The  only  renown  then  desired  or 
known,  was  skill  and  success  in  arms.  The  only  riches  then 
known,  were  lands,  which  yielded  the  right  to  service  in  war, 
and  to  the  products  of  labor.  Hence,  the  warrior,  who  was 
also  a  great  landholder,  enjoyed  a  substantial  superiority, 
which  he  could  not  but  feel  and  manifest.  Though  grants, 
or  permissions  to  possess  and  use  were,  originally,  for  a  short 
time,  the  immediate  grantees  of  the  prince,  by  gifts  or  pur- 
chases, extended  their  rights  to  a  tenure  for  life ;  and  then 
motives  became  very  strong  to  secure  an  inheritance  to  pre- 
serve family  dignity  and  power.  This  object  was  gradually 
accomplished;  and,  before  the  tenth  century,  a  large  propor- 
tion of  Europe  was  held  by  great  lords,  with  power  to  trans- 
mit possession  to  their  children,  under  various  conditions. 
The  same  right  of  inheritance  was  gradually  acquired  by  the 
inferior  feudal  lords. 

These  landed  proprietors  were  the  class  from  whom  the 
chiefs  (or  kings,  as  they  soon  were  in  fact)  selected  officers, 
who  were  usually  employed  to  exercise  civil  as  well  as  military 
power,  in  the  districts  of  country  committed  to  their  charge ; 
and,  in  their  own  territories,  they  had  the  right  to  hold  courts 
and  administer  justice.  These  officers  were  known  under 
various  names  descriptive  of  their  employments,  and  these 
names  settled  into  titles  of  nobility,  though  the  original  as- 


THE    FEUDAL    SYSTEM.  23 

sumption  of  nobility  was  undoubtedly  founded  in  territorial 
property. 

In  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  society  was  divided 
into  separate  orders,  in  all  the  countries  now  known  under  the 
name  of  Germany,  Holland,  Belgium,  France,  England,  the 
northern  part  of  Spain  and  Italy :  1.  The  King  or  Emperor ; 
2.  The  high  church  dignitaries  or  bishops ;  3.  Dukes,  from 
the  Latin  duces,  (leaders,)  who  exercised  civil  and  military 
power  over  several  districts  or  counties ;  4.  Counts,  from  the 
Latin  Comes,  (companions  or  followers  of  the  prince,)  who 
exercised  like  authority  under  the  Dukes,  in  their  respective 
counties ;  5.  Marquis,  from  the  Latin  Marcha,  signifying 
boundary ;  marquises  were  entrusted  with  the  defence  of  the 
frontiers;  6.  Earls,  said  to  be  derived  from  a  Danish  word, 
meaning  elder,  who  were,  in  virtue  of  the  wisdom  which  age 
is  supposed  to  impart,  counsellors,  but  whose  employments 
were  similar  to  that  of  counts;  7.  Barons;  it  is  supposed  that 
all  the  great  landholders,  and  especially  those  who  were  such 
from  the  king's  bounty,  and  who  had  not  employments  which 
authorized  them  to  take  either  of  the  before-mentioned  titles, 
were  called  Barons.  The  root  of  this  word  is  found  in  many 
languages,  and  originally  signified  man,  or  strength.  In  this 
view  of  the  origin  of  nobility,  all  the  military  and  civil  officers 
before  mentioned  may  have  been  barons. 

Though  the  ownership  of  great  territories  was  the  natural 
cause  of  the  assumption  of  nobility,  the  distinction  became 
personal  in  the  course  of  time,  and  remained  to  individuals 
and  their  families.  It  is  supposed  the  nobility  began  to  assume 
sirnames  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  to  designate  themselves 
by  the  names  of  their  manors  and  castles. 

Manors  were  so  called,  because  these  were  the  estates  on 
which  the  feudal  lords  dwelt,  or  remained,  when  at  home. 
Manor  is  from  the  Latin  word  manere,  to  remain.  These 
Latin  derivations,  in  feudal  names,  arose,  because  the  Latin 
was  the  only  written  language  when  these  feudal  relations 
were  settled. 

When  chivalry  (of  which  the  origin  is  stated  in  another 
chapter)  nourished,  then  armorial  bearings  were  assumed  as 
the  indications  of  nobility.  In  the  year  1271,  Philip  the 
Hardy  assumed  to  confer  the  rank  of  nobility,  to  balance  those 
who  had  become  noble  from  their  lands.  Sirfte  that  time,  all 
kings  have  exercised  the  privilege  of  creating  nobles ;  and 
have  usually  given  a  title  which  refers  to  some  landed  estate, 
in  sound,  though  the  new  noble  may  not  own  an  acre. 


24  THE    FEUDAL    STSTEM. 

Next  to  these  noble  orders  were  a  class  of  inferior  land- 
holders, inferior  orders  of  clergy,  and,  probably,  civil  and 
military  officers,  who,  co^ectively,  may  have  been  considered 
as  inferior  nobility,  but  more  properly  as  gentry,  as  that  word 
is  now  understood  in  England.  Next  were  free  men,  who 
were  proprietors  of  small  allodial  estates,  and  who  cultivated 
these,  and  sometimes  adjoining  lands,  which  they  held  of  some 
proprietor,  rendering  some  kind  of  rent.  Then  followed  the 
villains,  who  were  bondmen  or  slaves,  annexed  to  the  soil, 
and  who  were  sold  with  it,  as  mere  property.  The  word  vil- 
lain is  a  striking  example  of  the  changes  which  time  pro- 
duces in  language.  This  word  was  from  the  Latin  villa, 
meaning  village,  and  was  intended  to  designate  the  inhabit- 
ants of  villages,  who  were  tenants  of  the  land-owner.  Lastly, 
the  slaves,  who  were  the  lowest  form  in  which  human  life 
can  appear.  They  wrere  subject  to  the  absolute  will  of  their 
masters,  not  allowed  any  civil  rights,  incapable  of  holding  any 
property,  and  liable  to  any  suffering  which  caprice  or  malice 
could  inflict,  even  to  the  loss  of  life — and  all  this  without  the 
imputation  of  crime  or  fault  to  their  owners. 

Such  were  the  orders  of  society  from  800  to  the  middle  of 
the  eleventh  century,  in  which  space  of  time  the  gieat  land- 
holders gradually  encroached  on  the  royal  authority,  and  many 
of  them  became  petty  kings  in  their  own  territories.  They 
assumed  the  right  of  making  war  on  each  other,  of  adminis- 
tering justice  according  to  their  own  will,  of  coining  money, 
and  even  of  resisting  their  own  sovereign  by  military  force. 
This  state  of  things  was  suspended,  in  some  degree,  by  the 
masterly  genius  and  commanding  authority  of  Charlemagne, 
(from  the  year  768  to  the  year  814,)  after  which,  all  his  efforts 
to  improve  and  enlighten  society  were  lost,  in  the  bloody  con- 
flicts among  his  descendants,  and  among  the  nobility,  who 
took  sides  in  these  conflicts.  When  no  civil  authority,  where- 
by to  ascertain  right  and  administer  justice  peaceably,  exists  in 
a  community,  all  that  is  claimed,  demanded,  or  denied,  must 
be  yielded  or  retained  by  violence.  This  was  the  state  of 
things  throughout  the  vast  extent  over  which  Charlemagne 
had  established  his  dominion,  and  was  the  true  cause  of  per- 
fecting the  feudal  system.  In  this  age  of  ignorance,  violence, 
and  barbarity,  every  member  of  society  was  compelled  to 
place  himself  ifhder  the  protection  of  some  superior,  and  to 
pay  for  that  protection  by  submitting  himself  to  some  kind  of 
military  or  other  service,  and  to  give  the  most  solemn  assur- 
ance of  fidelity,  by  oath. 


THE    FEUDAL    SYSTEM.  25 

A  principle  arose  out  of  this  system,  which  still  is  recog- 
nized in  England,  and  on  the  Continent,  that  the  king  is  the 
paramount  lord  of  all,  and  that  all  lands  are  held  directly,  or 
through  subordinate  lords,  of  him.  This  is  now,  practically, 
a  mere  fiction,  but  is  the  foundation  of  the  sovereignty,  in 
virtue  of  which,  all  lands  which  never  had,  or  had  ceased  to 
have,  any  other  owner,  belong  to  the  king.  This  is  the  prin- 
ciple on  which  the  several  States  in  the  American  Republic 
own  all  that  individuals  do  not  own ;  and  whereby  the  State 
is  in  the  place  of  heir  to  those  who  leave  no  other  heir.  In 
legal  language,  it  is  called  escheat,  or  return  to  the  sovereign. 
A  consequence  of  this  eminent  sovereignty  was  the  right  to 
enter  on  the  lands,  on  failure  to  perform  the  duties  of  a  vassal, 
especially  for  the  cause  of  treason  or  rebellion.  This  is  the 
original  principle  of  the  forfeitures  so  frequently  occurring, 
especially  in  the  civil  wars  of  England.* 

As  the  tenure  of  property,  by  means  of  written  instruments, 
(now  called  deeds,  from  the  Latin  factum,  a  deed  or  act  done,) 
was  wholly  unknown,  the  lord  of  the  soil  gave  the  possession 
and  the  right  to  hold  and  use,  by  going  on  the  land  with  his 
intended  tenant,  and  calling  the  neighboring  tenants  to  witness 
the  ceremony.  By  this  act,  the  relation  between  lord  and 
tenant  was  made  public,  and  easily  proved ;  and  the  tenants 
were  thus  informed  who  they  were  who  might  be  called  on 
for  the  performance  of  similar  and  joint  services.  These  were 
graduated  by  the  extent  of  territory  held,  and  generally  regu- 
lated the  number  of  men,  horses,  and  days  of  service  which 
might  be  required  in  wars.  Service  or  compensation  was  not 
always  of  this  nature,  but  sometimes  was  limited  to  labor  on 
lands,  or  payment  in  the  products  of  the  soil.  Of  this  kind 
are  compensations,  to  the  present  day,  in  several  parts  of  Eu- 
rope derived,  no  doubt,  from  these  ancient  usages.  Besides 
these  services,  the  vassals  were  required  to  attend  the  courts 
held  by  the  great  lords  for  the  trial  of  suits  which  arose  within 

*  One  of  the  most  distressing  consequences  of  the  wars  of  the  houses 
of  York  and  Lancaster,  was  the  attainder  of  the  opponents  of  the  suc- 
cessful pretender.  This  penalty  was  the  stain  or  corruption  of  blood  of 
the  condemned  criminal.  It  involved  not  only  the  loss  of  life,  but  the 
forfeiture  of  title  and  estate  to  the  king ;  and,  consequently,  no  one  could 
claim  any  thing  by  descent  or  heirship,  from  or  through,  the  condemned. 
This  grievous  affliction  fell  on  almost  all  the  noble  families  of  England 
in  these  wars.  The  success  of  any  claimant  of  the  crown  was  followed 
by  the  restoration,  to  his  partisans,  of  the  losses  incurred,  of  title  and 
estate,  by  their  condemned  predecessors;  and  was  followed,  also,  by  new 
attainders;  and  hence  these  wars  were  carried  on  with  singular  and 
vindictive  bittemes?. 
3 


26  THE    FEUDAL    SYSTEM. 

their  territories.  They  attended  to  aid  in  the  administration 
of  justice,  either  in  the  character  of  jurors  or  witnesses.  The 
office  of  juror  was  mingled  with  that  of  judge,  and  the  vassals 
sat  in  the  baronial  courts  with  the  lords  as  his  pares  or  equals 
in  the  trial.  The  invaluable  right  of  trial  by  jury,  as  now 
known  in  England,  and  from  thence  in  the  United  States,  is 
derived  from  this  usage;  but  it  is  not  a  usage  on  the  continent 
of  Europe.* 

The  nature  of  the  relation  between  the  lord  and  the  tenant, 
may  best  be  understood  by  the  oath  which  the  latter  was 
required  to  take.  It  was,  on  the  continent,  in  substance,  thus  : 
"  I,  A.  B.,  vassal,  swear  on  the  holy  evangelists  of  God,  that 
from  this  hour  to  the  last  day  of  my  life,  I  will  be  faithful  to 
you,  C.  D.,  my  lord,  against  all  men,  except  the  supreme 
bishop,  the  emperor,  the  king,  or  any  lord  whom  I  have  here- 
tofore acknowledged  as  such."  In  this  ceremony,  the  vassal 
was  on  his  knees  before  the  lord,  having  the  palms  of  his 
hands  joined,  as  though  in  the  act  of  prayer,  the  lord  enclos- 
ing them  in  his  hands ;  and  in  this  attitude  the  oath  was 
taken.  But  when  the  vassal  was  ignorant  of.  the  comprehen- 
sive meaning  of  fidelity,  this  was  explained  in  a  more  extend- 
ed oath,  of  this  tenor  :  "  I  swear  that  I  will  never  be  of  any 
council,  nor  do  any  act,  whereby  your  life  or  members  may  be 
endangered,  or  whereby  you  may  receive  injury  or  reproach, 
or  lose  any  honor  which  you  have,  or  may  have ;  and  if  I 
shall  know  or  hear  of  such  design  against  you,  I  will  do  my 
utmost  that  it  be  not  carried  into  effect.  If  I  cannot  prevent 
it,  I  will  give  you  notice  thereof  as  soon  as  possible,  and  will 
afford  my  best  counsel  to  prevent  it.  If  you  lose  any  thing,  I 
will  do  all  I  can  to  recover  and  restore  it.  If  any  wrong  be 
done  to  you,  I  will  give  you  my  best  counsel  and  aid  to  avenge 
it.  I  will  faithfully  keep  your  counsels,  and  never  divulge 
any  thing  but  under  your  orders ;  and  never  will  I  do  any 
act  which  may  occasion  injury  or  reproach  to  you  or  yours." 
This  oath,  carried  into  practice,  was  still  more  comprehensive. 
The  tenant,  or  vassal,  accompanied  his  lord  to  the  battle,  and 
fought  side  by  side ;  if  the  lord  lost  his  horse,  the  tenant  dis- 
mounted and  gave  him  his  own ;  if  his  lord  was  taken  pris- 
oner, the  tenant  went  into  captivity  as  his  hostage,  and  was 
bound  to  contribute  to  the  sum  necessary  to  his  lord's  ransom. 

The  process  of  transferring  the  right  of  possession  from  the 
landlord  to  the  tenant,  was  not  only  the  going  on  the  land  and 

*  Lately,  there  is  a  jury  in  France,  in  some  case?. 


THE    FEUDAL    SYSTEM.  27 

declaring  their  relation,  and  taking  the  oath,  but  by  a  delivery 
from  the  landlord  to  the  tenant  of  some  symbol  of  the  transfer, 
as,  a  piece  of  the  soil  and  a  twig  of  a  tree,  whence  came  deliv- 
ery and  possession,  (anciently  and  still  called  livery  and  seizen, 
by  lawyers,)  by  the  giving  of  "  turf  and  twig."  Afterwards, 
when  writing  came  into  use,  the  contract  was  expressed  in 
"deeds"  but  was  still  accompanied  by  symbolic  livery  and  seizen. 
It  is  uncertain  at  what  time  the  conveyance  of  lands  by  deed 
came  into  use.  Deeds  were  not  unknown  to  the  Saxons,  but 
are  supposed  not  to  have  been  in  common  use  after  the  Nor- 
man invasion,  until  the  time  of  Edward  IV.  (1480.)  Then, 
and  before  that  time,  they  were  not  signed  by  the  parties  nor 
witnesses,  but  the  seal  of  the  party  was  thereunto  affixed. 
Feudal  ceremonies  were  relied  on  as  evidence  of  the  transfer 
of  estates,  when  that  system  was  carried  to  England  by  Wil- 
liam, in  1066.  The  landlord  clothed  the  tenant  with  a  vest  or 
garment,  in  the  presence  of  witnesses,  whence  was  derived  the 
term  "investure"  of  an  estate.  Customs  arising  from  livery 
and  seizen  were  long  preserved  in  Europe,  and  were  transfer- 
red to  the  United  States  by  our  ancestors.  There  are  persons 
still  alive,  who  can  remember  that  lawful  possession  of  an 
estate  was  acquired  by  the  ceremony  of  delivering  turf  and 
twig.  Lawyers  still  speak  of  possession  of  real  estate,  or  of  a 
right  to  possess,  as  a  seizen.  At  present,  now  that  the  utility 
of  written  and  recorded  conveyances  has  been  experienced, 
the  ceremony  of  livery  and  seizen  has  disappeared.  It  is  the 
practice  to  transfer  landed  estate  by  written  instruments,  under 
seal,  acknowledged  to  be  voluntary  acts,  and  so  certified  by 
some  competent  authority,  and  recorded.  In  some  of  the 
States  there  are  statutes  declaring  that  such  alienations  by 
persons  lawfully  authorized  to  make  them,  shall  be  good  and 
valid  without  any  other  ceremony.  It  is  the  practice  here,  to 
consider  the  proper  execution  of  a  lawful  deed  as  a  legal 
transfer,  though  neither  of  the  contracting  parties  ever  saw  the 
property  transferred. 

In  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  the  engrossing  employment 
of  all  the  free  people  of  Europe  was  war.  It  was  carried  on 
for  the  gratification  of  the  most  malignant  passions,  as  well  as 
to  obtain  whatsoever  the  conqueror  desired.  The  purpose,  on 
both  sides,  was  the  absolute  destruction  of  the  enemy's  place 
of  abode ;  laying  waste  his  cultivated  lands ;  carrying  away 
all  personal  property,  and  destroying  such  as  could  not  be 
carried  away ;  taking  the  lord  and  his  family  and  his  armed 
vassals  and  putting  them  to  death,  or  carrying  them  into  cap- 


28  THE    FEUDAL     SYSTEM. 

tivity  to  serve  as  slaves,  or  detaining  them  as  prisoners  in  the 
hope  that  they  would  be  ransomed. 

The  baronial  wars  are  supposed  to  have  given  to  the  Eng- 
lish language  the  word  feud,  in  common  use,  as  in  some 
degree  expressive  of  the  spirit  in  which  these  wars  were 
conducted.  It  was  this  barbarous  warfare  which  caused  the 
building  of  castles.  These  were  habitations  as  well  as  for- 
tresses, and  were  placed  where  access  was  most  difficult. 
They  were  spacious  enough  to  contain  a  large  armed  force, 
and  provisions  enough  to  sustain  all  who  were  within,  during 
a  siege.  The  ruins  of  these  castles  yet  remain  as  monuments 
of  the  barbarism  which  made  them  necessary.  In  these 
times,  the  free  allodial  proprietors  were  subjected  to  the  rapaci- 
ty of  those  who  were  engaged  in  war,  without  having  any 
protection  from  feudal  lords.  They  had  no  resource  but  to 
surrender  their  lands  to  such  as  could  protect  them,  and  to 
take  back  the  same  lands  under  feudal  tenure.  In  general, 
the  surrender  was  made  to  the  sovereign  of  the  country,  but 
in  many  instances  to  other  lords,  or  to  monasteries,  or  to  supe- 
rior bishops,  who  were  lords  themselves,  and  proprietors  of 
extensive  territories.  The  feudal  duties  of  the  bishops  and 
abbots,  (the  latter  were  chiefs  in  the  monasteries,  and  so  called 
from  a  Hebrew  word,  meaning  father,)  were  sometimes  per- 
formed even  in  battle  by  the  prelates  themselves.  Their  ten- 
ure was  more  commonly  of  a  clerical  character,  as  the  offering 
of  prayers  and  bestowing  benedictions.  The  motive  in  sur- 
rendering to  monasteries,  was  the  belief  that  the  lands  surren- 
dered and  received  again  from  the  monastic  chiefs  in  feudal 
tenure,  and  also  the  vassals  themselves  would  be  taken  into 
the  immediate  protection  of  the  saints,  to  whom  the  monas- 
teries were  respectively  dedicated.  Meanwhile,  the  number 
of  slaves  was  much  increased.  Besides  the  slavery  which 
arose  from  conquests,  delinquences  and  offences  under  feudal 
tenure  were  punished  with  the  loss  of  freedom;  other  causes  of 
this  loss  were  common,  but  the  strongest  proof  of  the  misery  of 
these  days  is  found  in  the  fact,  that  great  numbers  of  freemen 
voluntarily  relinquished  that  condition  and  gave  up  their 
property,  and  submitted  to  the  ignominy  of  irrevocable  slavery 
for  themselves  and  descendants,  rather  than  bear  the  violations 
and  afflictions  to  which  the  defenceless  and  unprotected  were 
liable.  Thus  it  arose  that  the  major  part  of  all  the  population 
of  Europe  became  slaves. 

As  nothing  of  human  institution  can  be  stationary,  but  must 
grow  better  or  worse,  the  feudal  system  became  an  insupport- 


THE    FEUDAL     SYSTEM.  29 

able  evil.  It  threw  a  power,  most  tyrannically  used,  into  the 
hands  of  dukes,  counts,  barons,  and  inferior  lords.  As  each 
superior  oppressed  his  immediate  vassals,  so  these  indemnified 
themselves  by  oppressing  their  inferiors,  until,  at  length,  the 
actual  cultivators  of  the  soil  were  arrived  at,  by  whom  all 
above  them  were,  in  some  respects,  to  be  sustained.  Origi- 
nally, the  burthens  of  the  vassal  were  not  burthensome.  They 
were  bound  to  serve  in  war,  and  had  a  personal  interest  in 
rendering  that  service.  But  the  wants  of  superiors  led  to  a 
settled  system  of  claims,  which  are  found,  at  an  early  age,  to 
have  been  thus  classed  : 

Aids  to  the  lord  ;  1.  To  ransom  the  lord's  person.  2.  To 
contribute  to  the  expense  of  making  the  lord's  eldest  son  a 
knight.  3.  To  contribute  to  the  portion  of  the  lord's  eldest 
daughter  on  her  marriage.  Reliefs.  This  was  a  payment 
made  by  the  succeeding  heir  to  a  feud  or  estate  when  the  ten- 
ant deceased.  Premier  seizen  was  the  right  to  one  year's 
possession  and  profits  of  the  estate  after  the  tenant's  death, 
and  before  the  heir  could  take  possession.  Originally  this 
was  a  privilege  of  the  king  only,  as  to  his  tenants.  Wardship. 
If  the  heir  was  not  of  age,  the  lord  took  him  into  guardian- 
ship, and  took  all  the  profits  to  his  own  use.  Marriage.  The 
lord  had  the  right  of  deciding  on  the  marriage  of  his  ward, 
and  his  consent  was  obtained  for  a  compensation.  6.  A  fine 
(or  compensation)  was  paid  to  the  lord  when  a  vassal  alienated 
his  possessory  estate  to  another.  Neither  the  lord  nor  the 
vassal  could  terminate  their  relation  but  by  mutual  consent ; 
and  the  lord  had  the  right  to  take  the  estate  himself  and  pay 
the  price  at  which  the  vassal  desired  to  sell.* 

Out  of  these  original  provisions  (which  could  be  shown  to 
be  sufficiently  reasonable  on  the  principle  of  feudal  tenure, 
which  was  military  strength,)  the  most  intolerable  abuses 
gradually  arose.  The  tendency  of  power  to  increase  and 
strengthen  itself,  and  to  encroach  upon  and  oppress  the  weak, 
is  no  where  more  strikingly  proved  than  in  the  abuses  of  the 
feudal  lords. 

The  feudal  system  was  carried  to  England  by  William  the 
Conqueror,  1066.  Blackstone  thus  mentions  the  complaint 
of  Sir  Thomas  Smith : — "  When  he  came  to  his  own  after 
he  was  out  of  wardship,  his  woods  decayed,  houses  fallen 
down  and  gone,  lands  let  forth  to  be  ploughed  and  barren,  to 

*  In  Lower  Canada,  this  is  the  law  to  the  present  day;  most  of  the  old 
cultivated  lands  there  are  now  held  under  feudal  tenures. 

3* 


t>U  THE    FEUDAL    SYSTEM. 

reduce  him  still  farther,  he  was  yet  to  pay  half  a  year's  profits 
as  a  fine  for  suing-  out  his  livery,  (that  is,  for  the  delivery  of 
possession  to  him ;)  and  also  the  price  or  value  of  his  mar- 
riage, if  he  refused  such  wife  as  his  lord  and  guardian  had 
bartered  for  and  imposed  on  him ;  or  twice  that  value  if  he 
married  another  woman.  Add  to  this  the  expense  and  un- 
timely honor  of  knighthood.  And  when,  by  these  deductions, 
his  fortune  was  so  shattered,  that  a  sale  of  his  patrimony  was 
necessary,  even  that  poor  privilege  was  not  obtained  without 
an  exorbitant  fine  for  a  license  of  alienation."  But  these 
grievances  went  only  to  property.  There  were  others  con- 
cerning the  vassals  and  the  members  of  their  families,  which 
were  far  greater ;  some  of  which  are  too  odious  to  be  men- 
tioned. It  was  not  until  the  12th  of  Charles  II.  that  all  these 
feudal  abuses  were  abolished,  by  act  of  Parliament.  They 
continued  much  longer  on  the  continent.* 

This  military  and  slavish  policy  reigned  in  Europe  in  full 
vigor  from  about  800  to  the  sixteenth  century,  and  in  some 
parts  of  it  still  longer.  Its  gradual  dissolution  arose  from  the 
increase  of  power  which  kings  obtained  over  their  nobles. 
Many  large  feuds  (or  territories)  came  to  the  possession  of 
kings  as  feudal  lords.  Their  wars  obliged  them  to  keep  a 
military  force  in  the  field  longer  than  the  rules  of  feudal  law 
permitted  the  exaction  of  service  from  vassals.  They  began 
by  paying  their  vassals  for  longer  service.  In  process  of 
time,  kings  were  enabled  to  keep  small  bodies  of  armed  men 
in  constant  service.  Thus  arose  standing  armies,  or  a  class  of 
men  separated  from  all  others,  and  whose  only  vocation  was 
war.     Dependence  on  vassals  was  thus  superseded.     But  other 

*  Time  has  not  yet  relieved  the  vassal  or  bondman  from  servitude,  . 
every  where.  They  are  still  such  in  northeastern  Europe.  There, 
feudal  obligations  (as  in  Russia  and  Hungary)  still  continue.  In  other 
parts  of  northeastern  Europe,  the  vassalage  was  mitigated  by  a  certain 
agreed  periodical  service,  and  sometimes  by  giving  up  part  of  the  land 
to  the  lord,  or  an  annual  payment  of  money.  In  this  way,  vassalage 
gradually  disappeared  in  Prussia  about  the  year  1809.  Sismondi  says, 
(Hist,  of  Ital.  Rep.)  that,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  vassalage  was  given 
up  by  the  land  proprietors  in  northern  Italy  from  the  conviction  that  it 
would  be  for  their  interest  to  do  it,  and  that  they  could  profit  more  by 
having  their  lands  cultivated  by  free  tenants  than  by  bondmen.  In 
France,  vassalage  was  not  entirely  extirpated  till  the  close  of  the  last 
century,  one  of  the  effects  of  the  revolution.  In  Russia,  the  serfs  are, 
strictly,  adscripti  glebae,  (bound  to  the  soil,)  and  cannot  be  severed  from 
the  soil  and  sold,  but  are  sold  with  it.  The  late  Emperor  Alexander  is 
said  to  have  freed  his  serfs,  and  to  have  thereby  given  great  offence  to  his 
nobles.  In  the  Austrian  dominions,  servitude  still  continues,  as  in  Rus- 
sia    Large  villages  are  peopled  with  serfs,  especially  in  Hungary. 


THE    FEUDAL    SYSTEM.  31 

feudal  burthens  continued.  The  first  king  who  had  his  own 
troops  or  standing  army,  was,  it  is  said,  Charles  VII.  of 
France,  in  1 444 ;  though  the  practice  of  having  soldiers  to 
serve  during  a  war,  is  of  much  older  date. 

As  military  strength  gradually  ceased  to  be  dependent  on 
the  feudal  tenure,  that  system  fell  into  disuse  as  to  its  original 
purpose.  But  it  had  continued  through  so  many  centuries, 
and  had  so  incorporated  itself  with  all  landed  estates,  and  with 
all  social  rights  and  duties,  and  with  all  distinctions  in  the 
order  of  society,  that  in  the  present  day,  nearly  all  that  is  seen 
in  Europe  in  all  these  respects,  can  be  traced  to  that  system. 
Out  of  it  arose  a  body  of  laws,  customs,  and  usages,  and 
forms  of  proceeding  in  courts  of  justice,  so  that  no  one  now  is 
considered  to  be  learned  in  the  law  who  is  not  master  of  feu- 
dal law.  Fortunately,  the  progress  of  improvement  has  done 
much  to  free  the  states  of  Europe  from  forms  and  ceremonies 
inapplicable  to  the  present  age.  It  is  seen  in  England  that 
attempts  are  made  by  wise  men  to  free  the  forms  of  convey- 
ance of  real  estate  from  that  complexity  which  grew  out  of 
feudal  usages ;  and  to  reduce  the  administration  of  justice  as 
to  landed  property,  to  simple  and  plain  processes,  alike  to  be 
desired  by  all  parties  who  are  under  the  necessity  of  appear- 
ing in  courts  of  justice.  This  was  never  otherwise  in  some  of 
the  States  of  the  Union.  Yet  the  feudal  system  is  far  from 
deserving  unqualified  reproach.  It  was  suitable  and  indis- 
pensable to  the  age  in  which  it  arose.  The  design  of  those 
who  framed  it  and  gave  it  efficacy,  is  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  grievous  perversions  and  abuses  to  which  it  gave  rise. 
The  opinion  of  the  discriminating  Hallam,  at  the  close  of  his 
second  chapter  in  his  history  of  the  Middle  Ages,  deserves 
great  respect.  He  considers  the  system  to  have  extinguished 
the  vices  of  falsehood,  treachery,  and  ingratitude  which  dis- 
graced the  decline  of  the  Roman  empire.  The  faithful  and 
honorable  performance  of  duty  to  superiors  arose,  while  supe- 
riors were  equally  bound  to  like  performance  of  duty  to  their 
dependants.  He  regards  the  participation  in  administering 
justice  as  having  had  a  salutary  influence  on  the  character  of 
freemen  ;  and  maintains  that  the  ample  field  which  was  opened 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  sentiments  which  might  be  felt  be- 
tween an  obedient  vassal  and  a  beneficent  superior,  was  availed 
of  to  the  great  benefit  of  both  parties.  It  is  his  opinion  that 
the  sentiment  of  loyalty  which  is  yet  felt  in  monarchical  gov- 
ernments in  Europe,  is  one  of  the  benefits  which  arose  from 
this  system.     Whatever  may  be  thought  of  these  opinions  in 


32  IRELAND. 

our  republican  country,  all  must  agree  with  him  that  the  feu- 
dal system,  from  its  preventive  power,  and  from  its  unfitness  to 
be  used  as  an  instrument  of  conquest  in  the  hands  of  an  am- 
bitious monarch,  saved  Europe  from  a  universal  monarchy. 

This  brief  summary  of  feudal  law  will  be  found  to  have 
been  indispensable  to  the  intelligent  perusal  of  causes  and 
effects  among  nations  in  the  ages  which  we  are  to  examine. 
The  design  is  now  to  pass  from  the  west  of  Europe  to  the 
eastern  extremity  of  Asia,  taking  each  country  by  itself.  Ac- 
tions, or  events  and  consequences,  will  be  noticed  in  the  coun- 
tries in  which  they  occurred.  If,  for  example,  Frenchmen, 
Germans,  or  Spaniards  act  in  Italy,  their  acts  are  to  be  noticed 
in  Italy,  and  not  in  their  own  countries  respectively.  As 
another  example,  the  crusades,  though  beginning  in  several  of 
the  western  states,  are  to  be  noticed  in  sketches  of  the  Roman 
Church,  because  all  of  them,  but  the  last,  were  put  in  motion 
by  the  popes  ;  or  they  are  to  be  noticed  at  the  scenes  of  action, 
as  Constantinople  or  Palestine.  It  will  be  convenient,  perhaps 
necessary,  sometimes,  to  deviate  from  this  rule.  Pursuant  to 
this  general  design,  we  are  to  begin  with  Ireland. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

IRELAND. 

Original  Papulation— Poems  of  Ossian — St.  Patrick — Pelagian  Heresy 
— Learning — Conquest  of  Ireland  by  Henry  II. — Causes  of  Affliction — 
Prince  John — Government  by  English  Kings — State  of  Ireland  in  1500. 

This  island,  lying  between  the  fifty-first  and  fifty-sixth  de- 
grees of  north  latitude,  is  two  degrees  further  west  than  any 
part  of  Spain  or  Portugal.  Its  length,  from  Malin  Head  in 
the  north  to  Cape  Clear  in  the  south,  is  280  miles ;  its  breadth 
from  the  east  side  of  the  island,  near  Dublin,  to  the  extreme 
west  at  Ireconnaught,  is  about  125  miles.  The  surface  of  the 
island  is  diversified  with  ranges  of  hills,  valleys,  and  bogs  p 
the  latter  formed  by  the  filling  up  of  shallow  lakes.  The! 
ranges  of  hills,  if  they  have  any  general  course,  are  from  east 
to  west.  Some  of  them  approach  to  the  character  of  moun- 
tains. The  highest  point  is  in  Kerry,  in  the  south-west,  near 
Killarney,  Gurrane  Tual,  3410  feet  above  the  sea.  Ireland 
has  no  forests,  neither  has  it  any  venomous  insect  or  reptile. 


IRELAND.  33 

The  river  Shannon  is  without  a  rival  in  the  three  kingdoms. 
Its  course  through  the  middle  of  the  island,  from  north-east  to 
south-west,  is  J  70  miles.  There  are  many  other  rivers,  many 
lakes,  and  hundreds  of  bays  and  harbors.  Of  the  thirty 
thousand  square  miles  far  less  is  cultivated  than  might  be.  Its 
climate,  though  moist,  is  exceedingly  genial  to  vegetation.  Its 
name  is  derived  from  its  verdure.  It  is  called  the  Green  Isle, 
the  Emerald  Isle,  Erin,  Ierne,  Ireland.  The  Romans  gave 
their  own  termination  to  this  name,  and  called  it  Hibernia. 
This  beautiful  isle  is  full  of  natural  riches,  and  capable  of 
sustaining  a  very  numerous  population,  and  of  imparting 
every  benefit  which  human  life  is  adapted  to  enjoy ;  but  no 
part  of  the  earth,  within  the  range  of  civilization,  has  been  so 
invariably  miserable.  The  causes  of  this  misery  will  become 
apparent  as  we  proceed  in  these  sketches. 

Leland  and  Thomas  Moore  are  the  two  latest  historians 
who  have  written  of  Ireland.  The  latter  has  suggested  some 
corrections  in  the  work  of  the  former.  The  origin  of  the 
peopling  of  Ireland  and  its  ancient  condition  are  treated  of  by 
Moore  with  much  research  and  learning.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  the  Phoenicians  and  the  Carthaginians  were  acquainted 
with  this  island,  and  not  improbable  that  they  had  settlements 
there.  The  relics  of  antiquity  are  discussed  by  Moore  in 
reference  to  its  earliest  inhabitants,  some  of  which  he  refers  to 
eastern  origin  ;  but  he  does  not  assume  to  account  for  the 
round,  slim,  high  towers  which  are  here  found,  and  which 
have  survived  even  conjectural  origin.  There  is  one  fact 
equally  difficult  to  be  accounted  for.  From  the  second  century 
of  the  Christian  era,"  the  Irish  had  written  historical  annals. 
Sir  James  Mcintosh  (Hist,  of  Eng.  vol.  i.  p.  82)  considers 
them  to  be  authentic.  He  says, — "  In  one  respect,  Irish  his- 
tory has  been  eminently  fortunate.  The  Chronicles  of  Ire- 
land, written  in  the  Irish  language,  from  the  second  century  to 
the  landing  of  Henry  Plantagenet,  have  been  recently  pub- 
lished with  the  fullest  evidence  of  their  genuineness  and  ex- 
actness/ The  Irish  possess  genuine  history  several  centuries 
more  ancient  than  any  other  possess,  in  its  present  spoken 
language.  No  other  nation  possesses  any  monument  of  its 
literature,  in  its  present  spoken  language,  which  goes  back 
within  several  centuries  of  the  beginning  of  these  Chronicles." 
This  writer  offers  no  conjecture  on  the  singularity  of  this  fact, 
in  relation  to  the  universal  ignorance  of  all  other  nations  of 
that  time,  but  Greeks  and  Romans.  The  translator  of  these 
Chronicles,  Dr.  Charles  O'Connor,  lineal  descendant  from  a 


34  IRELAND. 

king  paramount  of  Ireland,  claims  a  high  degree  of  civiliza- 
tion for  his  ancient  countrymen.  Moore  thinks  (vol.  i.  p.  146) 
that  Mcintosh  assigned  a  higher  antiquity  to  these  Chronicles 
than  is  consistent  with  truth;  and  if  Moore  is  right  in  his 
account  of  the  Irish,  little  can  be  inferred  from  it  in  favor  of 
civilization  at  that  early  period. 

Whatever  may  be  conjectured  as  to  the  ancient  state  and 
relics  of  Ireland,  it  is  considered  as  settled,  that  the,  original 
population  were  like  those  of  France,  England,  and  Spain, 
Celtic.  It  is  improbable  that  there  was  permanent  intermix- 
ture of  Phoenicians  or  Carthaginians  with  the  original  race. 
If  they  had  attained  to  any  higher  degree  of  civilization  than 
their  Celtic  neighbors  on  the  continent,  it  seems  to  have  been 
lost  before  they  became  the  subjects  of  history.  When  first  so 
known,  the  island  was  divided  into  four  kingdoms  :  1.  Ulster, 
comprising  the  north  end.  2.  Munster,  comprising  the  south 
end.  3.  Leinster,  midway  between  the  two,  on  the  east  side. 
4.  Connaught,  midway  between  the  two,  on  the  west  side. 
These  four  kingdoms  were  divided  into  numerous  small  ones. 
Over  the  whole  was  a  paramount  king,  whose  place  of  abode 
was  in  Connaught.  They  had  several  cities  at  an  early  peri- 
od, as  Waterford  and  Cork  on  the  south  side  of  the  island ; 
Dublin  on  the  east ;  Limerick  on  the  Shannon  in  the  west. 
Perhaps  the  early  commerce  in  tin  may  account  for  these 
cities.  The  Phoenicians  and  Carthaginians  are  supposed  to 
have  gone  to  Ireland  for  that  article,  and  perhaps  for  some 
others. 

The  presumption  is  irresistible,  that  for  more  than  a  thou- 
sand years  before  Henry  II.  conquered  Ireland,  (in  1172,) 
that  country  was  subjected  to  incessant  wars  and  convulsions 
from  the  nature  of  its  political  condition.  In  all  the  Irish 
kingdoms,  great  or  small,  succession  to  the  royal  authority 
depended  on  choice,  though  limited  to  royal  blood.  Property 
r  was  subject  to  partition  anew  among  a  whole  tribe,  when  any 
one  of  its  members  deceased.  Here  were  two  elements  (to 
say  nothing  of  many  others  incident  to  that  rude  state  of  soci- 
ety) sufficient  to  have  kept  up  incessant,  vindictive,  bloody 
warfare  throughout  the  island.  Such  was  undoubtedly  its 
condition.  No  historical  records  are  necessary  to  prove  this. 
The  people  of  Ireland  had  no  other  occupation.  Such  a  state 
of  society  may  be  considered  as  admitted  by  Moore,  who  has 
every  disposition  to  give  the  best  account,  consistent  with  truth, 
of  his  native  land.* 

*  The  celebrated  poems  of  Ossian,  by  Macpherson,  arose  out  ol  Irish 


IRELAND.  35 

Whatever  melioration  arose  in  this  state  of  things,  Ireland 
is  indebted  for  it  to  the  presence  and  ministry  of  St.  Patrick. 
Moore  assigns  Boulogne,  fourteen  miles  south  of  Calais, 
France,  for  his  birthplace,  A.  D.  387.  Gibbon  thinks  his 
name  is  derived  from  the  custom  among  certain  classes,  in 
Roman  colonies,  to  take  the  name  of  patrician.  While  a 
youth,  St.  Patrick  was  carried  to  Ireland  as  a  slave.  After 
seven  years  he  escaped  and  returned  to  France,  and  devoted 
himself  to  the  church.  In  422  he  returned  to  Ireland,  consid- 
ering himself  commissioned,  in  a  vision,  to  preach  Christian- 
ity. His  piety,  eloquence,  and  personal  influence  accom- 
plished his  object.  He  established  the  bishopric  of  Armagh, 
about  sixty  miles  nearly  north  of  Dublin.  His  pious  and 
useful  life  was  prolonged  to  the  seventeenth  day  of  March, 
448,  and  was  closed  in  the  land  of  his  adoption.  That  day  is 
commemorated  by  the  Irish  in  honor  of  their  Saint.  All 
notices  of  the  life  of  this  person  are  concurrent,  as  to  the  fact 
that  he  is  entitled  to  an  eminent  rank  among  the  wise  and  the 
worthy,  who  have  arisen  from  time  to  time*  to  instruct  and 
benefit  their  fellow-men. 

Near  the  close  of  the  fourth  century  arose  the  Pelagian 
heresy.  Moore  (vol.  i.  p.  178)  maintains  that  Pelagius  and 
his  disciple  Celestinus,  were  both  natives  of  Ireland.  Gibbon 
mentions  Pelagius  as  a  Briton.  They  were  both  eminent 
men,  and,  if  born  in  Ireland,  went  early  to  the  continent,  and 
were  distinguished  at  Rome  and  Alexandria.  They  were 
sufficiently  known  to  call  forth  St.  Augustine  and  Jerome  as 
opponents.  In  Cunningham's  translation  of  Gieseler's  Eccle- 
siastical History,  vol.  i.  p.  218,  there  is  an  account  of  this 
controversy.     The  subject  was  the  freedom  of  the  will,  the 

conflicts.  James  Macpherson  was  born  in  Scotland  in  1738.  and  died  in 
1796,  and  was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey.  He  professed  to  have 
translated  from  the  original  Gaelic  of  Ossian,  scenes  which  occurred  in 
Scotland  in  the  third  century.  According  to  Moore,  (vol.  i.  p.  1'20,)  the 
scenes  described  in  Ossian's  poems,  so  far  as  they  have  any  historical 
foundation,  occurred  in  Ireland,  in  civil  wars,  about  the  close  of  the  third 
century.  This  historian  has  devoted  several  pages  to  prove  Macpher- 
son's  imposition  upon  the  literary  community.  "  Had  the  aim,"  says 
Moore,  "  of  the  forgery  been  confined  to  the  ordinary  objects  of  romance, 
viz.  to  delight  and  interest,  any  such  grave  notice  of  its  anachronisms 
and  inconsistencies,  would  have  been  here  misplaced.  But  the  impos- 
ture of  Macpherson  was,  at  the  least,  as  much  historical  as  poetical." 
The  foundation  of  Macpherson's  poetical  ingenuity  was  the  songs  of 
Irish  bards.  The  fatal  battle  of  Gabhra  was  one  of  the  principal  scenes 
therein  described.  On  this,  Macpherson  is  accused  of  founding  his 
poem  of  Temora,  (p.  121.)  Admit  them  to  be  fictions  or  forgeries,  they 
are  eminent  poetical  effusions. 


36  IRELAND* 

evil  consequences  of  the  fall,  and  the  necessity  of  divine  grace. 
Pelagius  and  Celestinus  denied  this  fundamental  doctrine  of 
the  church,  and  insisted  that  there  is  no  original  sin  ;  that 
man  can,  by  his  own  free  will,  choose  good  as  well  as  evil, 
and  every' one,  therefore,  can  secure  future  happiness.  This 
heresy,  though  at  one  time  widely  spread,  was  crushed  by 
the  power  of  the  church.  Pelagius  died  at  Jerusalem  in  420, 
at  the  age  of  ninety  years. 

In  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  centuries,  Ireland  was 
much  celebrated  for  its  scholarship.  "  The  venerable  Bede," 
as  he  is  called,  mentions  the  learning  of  Ireland.  Bede  was 
a  native  of  England,  born  near  Durham  in  672,  and  died  at 
the  age  of  sixty-three.  He  is  often  referred  to  with  respect 
and  confidence.  Many  persons,  distinguished  for  their  learn- 
ing, were  educated  at  the  monastic  establishments  at  Armagh, 
near  the  middle  of  the  northern  kingdom  of  Ulster.  The 
original  impulse  was  probably  from  St.  Patrick.  They  were, 
however,  learned  only  in  the  church  doctrines  of  the  day,  and 
to  be  so,  must  have  been  instructed  in  Latin.  It  cannot  be 
assumed  that  the  commendation  bestowed  on  several  clerical 
men  who  appeared  on  the  continent  from  this  island,  in  the 
court  of  Charlemagne,  800,  and  of  Alfred  in  890,  was  founded 
in  any  thing  higher  than  the  teaching  and  studies  of  monas- 
teries. They  excelled  the  students  of  other  countries  in  theo- 
logical mysteries,  and  perhaps  in  the  art  of  disputation. 

The  work  of  Thomas  Moore  (towards  the  close  of  vol.  i.) 
notices  the  customs  and  the  manners  of  the  Irish,  which  do 
not  disclose  a  better  condition  than  then  existed  on  the  conti- 
nent. It  might  be  expected  of  him  to  notice  the  Irish  harp, 
and  he  is  full  in  its  praise.  He  quotes  Bacon  as  saying, — 
"  The  harp  hath  the  concave  not  along  the  strings,  but  across 
the  strings,  and  no  harp  hath  the  sound  so  prolonged  and 
melting  as  the  Irish  harp."  And  the  following  from  Evelyn's 
journal : — "  Came  to  see  my  old  acquaintance,  and  the  most 
incomparable  player  on  the  Irish  harp,  Mr.  Clarke,  after  his 
travels.  Such  music,  before  or  since,  did  I  never  hear,  that 
instrument  being  neglected  by  its  extraordinary  difficulty;  but, 
in  my  judgment,  far  superior  to  the  lute  itself,  or  whatever 
speaks  with  strings."  * 

In  the  year  1152,  Ireland  had  attracted  the  notice  of  Pope 

/Adrian,  who  considered,  in  common  with  most  all  others  who 

filled  the  papal  chair,  that  his  empire  extended  to  every  hab- 

*  Evelyn  died  in  1705. 


IRELAND.  37 

itable  portion  of  the  earth.  Accordingly,  he  commissioned 
Cardinal  Paperon  to  appeaT  in  Ireland,  and  to  establish  there 
the  papal  authority.  It  was  not  difficult  to  persuade  the 
Christian  priests  that  they  would  increase  their  power  by 
admitting  the  acknowledged  sovereign  of  the  Holy  Church  as 
their  sovereign,  in  all  spiritual  concerns  and  in  all  their  con- 
sequences. With  the  usual  forms  the  priesthood  was  recog- 
nized, and  Ireland  was  received  into  the  church  dominion, 
which  then  pervaded  all  the  civilized  parts  of  Europe.  Bish- 
ops and  priests  and  all  the  ceremonies  of  the  Roman  Church 
were  duly  established,  and  there  they  have  remained,  from  age 
to  age,  to  perplex  the  generations  which  have  successively 
arisen. 

About  this  time  Henry  the  Second  (in  1154)  had  ascended 
the  English  throne.  He  was  the  grandson  of  Henry  -the 
First,  by  Matilda,  and  was  the  first  of  the  Plantagenet  race. 
His  mother  was  the  widow  of  Henry  Fifth,  emperor  of  Ger- 
many, when  she  married  the  French  count  of  Anjou,  Henry's 
father.  Being  the  son  of  one  who  had  been  an  empress, 
Henry  used  to  add  to  his  name  Fitz-Empress,  Fitz  being  an 
old  French  word,  meaning  son./  Henry  aspired  to  add  Ireland 
to  his  dominions ;  but,  having  no  justifiable  cause  to  invade 
and  conquer  the  island,  he  applied  to  Pope  Adrian,  the  fourth 
of  that  name,  and  the  only  Englishman  that  ever  filled  the 
papal  throne.  Adrian,  it  may  be  presumed,  was  pleased  to 
have  such  an  application  from  so  distinguished  a  monarch,  as 
it  implied  the  right,  assumed  by  the  popes,  to  dispose,  at  their 
pleasure,  of  the  whole  earth.  On  Henry's  application,  Adrian 
issued  his  bull,  in  the  year  1156,  and  therein  declares  that  all 
countries  "  which  have  received  the  Christian  faith,  do  belong 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  Saint  Peter  and  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Church."  Wherefore  he  authorizes  Henry  to  enter  upon  Ire- 
land and  take  possession  of  it,  and  "  to  reduce  the  people  to 
obedience  ;  "  provided  Henry  "  reserved  and  paid,  from  each 
house  in  Ireland,  a  yearly  pension  of  one  penny  to  St.  Peter, 
and  preserved  the  rights  of  the  churches  of  this  land  whole 
and  inviolate."  ^  Thus,  the  chief  priest  of  the  Christian  relig- 
ion, (as  he  ealled  it,)  at  the  distance  of  more  than  twelve  hun- 
dred miles  from  Ireland,  authorizes  a  neighboring  king  to 
subdue,  by  force  of  arms,  a  whole  nation,  and  to  possess  their 
land,  on  condition  of  paying  to  himself  and  his  successors  an 
annual  compensation  for  this  favor.  This  is  but  one  of  a 
thousand  similar  examples  of  the  meaning  of  the  Gospel  of 
peace  and  righteousness. 
4 


38  .  *     IRELAND. 

It  so  happened  that  Henry  was  too  much  engaged  in  his 
English  and  French  dominions  to  avail  himself,  forthwith,  of 
this  munificent  grant.  But  the  benefit  was  not  then  entirely 
lost,  as  a  state  of  things  had  occurred  in  Ireland  which  favored 
his  interference  in  its  affairs...  There  had  long  been  an  invet- 
erate hostility  between  two  of  the  kings  there,  named  O'Ruarc 
and  Dermod.  Dermod  had  carried  away  the  beautiful  and 
not  unwilling  wife  of  O'Ruarc.  This,  and  other  aggressions, 
combined  a  powerful  force  against  Dermod,  and  he  was  de- 
feated and  compelled  to  abandon  Eis  kingdom  of  Leinster. 
He  had  no  hope  of  reinstating  himself  unless  he  could  obtain 
assistance  from  abroad.  He  repaired  to  Henry,  then  in 
France,  who.  was  already  in  possession  of  the  Pope's  bull. 
Henry  was  so  engrossed  with  his  own  affairs  and  troubles, 
that  he  could  not  avail  himself  of  this  application,  but  he  gave 
to  Dermod  a  letter  of  credence  addressed  to  all  his  subjects, 
notifying  them  of  his  grace  and  protection  of  king  Dermod, 
and  declaring  that  "  whosoever,  within  his  dominions,  should 
be  disposed  to  aid  him  in  the  recovery  of  his  territory,  might 
be  assured  of  free  license  and  royal  favor." 

In  the  south  of  Wales,  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Severn, 
dwelt,  at  this  time,  Richard,  earl  of  Chepstow  and  Pembroke, 
of  the  illustrious  house  of  Clare,  surnamed  Strongbow,  from 
his  superior  strength  and  skill  in  archery.  To  him  Dermod 
applied  and  made  great  promises,  and  among  others  to  bestow 
in  marriage  his  daughter  Ava,  with  assurances,  of  inheriting 
the  kingdom  of  Leinster.  .Having  secured  Strongbow's  assist- 
ance, Dermod  returned  secretly  to  Ireland  to  prepare  for  his 
reception.  In  1170,  the  first  division  of  Strongbow's  forces 
arrived  near  We»xford,  in  the  south-east  corner  of  Ireland,  and 
.  in  May  of  the  following  year,  Strongbow  arrived  with  the  rest 
of  his  forces.  In  the  few  following  months,  Strongbow  sub- 
dued the  south-east  parts  of  the  island,  extending  his  conquests 
to  Cork,  (midway  of  the  southern  shore,)  and  thence  north- 
wardly to  Limerick  on  the  Shannon,  and  thence  still  further 
north  to  the  south  boundary  of  Ulster,  and  thence  eastwardly 
to  the  sea.  By  these  conquests,  Dermod  was  restored  to  his 
kingdom  of  Leinster,  and  had  added  thereto  on  the  south,  the 
eastern  half  of  Munster.'/^But  there  "were,  .with in  these  limits, 
many  Irish  chieftains  and  their  adherents,  who  had  submitted 
to  a  force  which  they  could  not  resist,  and  who  retained  the 
determination  to  free  themselves  from  this  new  subjection,  and 
take  ample  vengeance  whenever  the  opportunity  should  arise. 
When  Henry,  heard  of  Strongbow's  conquests,  he  feared 


IRELAND.  39 

that  he  might  be  deprived  of  the  sovereignty  of  Ireland,  and 
that  Strongbow  might  feel  potent  enough  to  assume  indepen* 
dence.  He,  therefore,  commanded  Strongbow  to  appear  before 
him,  and  to  acknowledge  his  vassalage.  He  did  so,  and  as- 
sured Henry  that  whatsoever  conquests  he  had  made,  were 
made  in  Henry's  right.  The  way  was  now  clear  for  Henry 
to  appear  in  Ireland,  and  having  made  a  proper  provision  of 
force  for  this  expedition,  he  arrived  at  Waterford,  on  the  south 
coast,  in  the  month  of  October,  1172.  He  brought  with  him 
a  formidable  army,  and  passed  unmolested  to  Dublin  by  slow 
marches,  and  with  great  pomp  and  parade.  Many  Irish  chiefs 
who  had  not  submitted  to  Strongbow,  voluntarily  appeared 
and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Henry.  During  the  half 
year  that  Henry  spent  in  Ireland,  three  months  were  passed 
at  Dublin  in  forming  the  acquired  territory  into  counties,  in 
settling  the  affairs  of  the  church,  in  arranging  for  the  future 
government  of  these  counties,  and  in  making  grants  of  land  to 
his  followers ;  and,  lastly,  in  establishing  a  vice-royalty,  to 
represent  the  English  sovereign. .''Thus,  the  Roman  church 
was  fastened  on  Ireland,  and  a  tenure  of  English  subjects  was 
established.  But  the  old  Irish  character  remained  among  the 
natives  of  the  island,  unchanged  and  unchangeable.  From  these 
causes  have  sprung  the  miseries  which  have  afflicted  Ireland 
in  all  future  times ;  and  the  reasons  why  the  improvements 
and  civilization  which  appear  in  England  have  never  found 
their  way  to  t^is  beautiful  region. 

The  troubles  in  which  Henry  had  involved  himself  in  Eng- 
land, hastened  his  departure,  and  in  the  month  of  April,  1173, 
he  landed  in  Pembrokeshire  in  Wales,  not  leaving  (as  Sir 
John  Davis  says)  one  true  subject  in  Ireland  more  than  he 
found  there ;  but  leaving  an  exasperated  and  vindictive  enemy, 
however  disguised  by  apparent  loyalty  and  submission. 

The  seeds  of  discord,  violence,  and  misery  had  been  pro- 
fusely sown  in  Ireland.  They  seem  to  have  partaken  of  the 
natural  productiveness  of  the  soil,  and  to  have  borne  abundant 
harvests.  From  the  time -that  Henry  departed,  in  1173,  to 
the  year  1509,  (a  term  of  336  years,)  when  Henry  the  Eighth 
ascended  the  English  throne,  the  history  of  this  island  com- 
prises only  a  long  train  of  afflictions  from  the  operation 
of  natural  causes.  If  any  twenty  of  these  336  years  were 
selected,  and  the  events  therein  occurring  were  detailed,  they 
would  be  the  events  of  any  other  twenty  years,  with  no  other 
variation  than  in  particular  places  and  agents.  The  events  in 
all  this  term,  and  in  subsequent  years,  have  been  described 


40  IRELAND. 

with  extraordinary  patience  and  perseverance  by  several  histo- 
rians. But  this  minuteness  is  inadmissible  on  this  occasion. 
It  is  only  necessary  to  show  in  what  manner  Ireland  has  been 
treated  by  the  government  of  England — in  what  manner  Eng- 
lishmen have  conducted  themselves  in  Ireland — in  what 
manner  the  Irish  people  have  conducted  themselves,  and 
herein  to  find  the  causes  of  the  present  miseries  of  this  coun- 
try. It  will  make  the  subject  more  easily  understood  if  the 
relation  of  all  the  several  parties  who  appeared  in  these  scenes 
are  distinctly  stated. 

1.  All  the  kings  of  England,  from  Henry  the  Second  to 
Henry  the  Eighth,  were  involved  either  in  rebellions,  civil  or 
foreign  wars,  or  in  controversies  with  the  pope,  besides  many 
minor  difficulties,  and  had  no  time  to  devote  to  Ireland. 

2.  The  administration  of  Irish  affairs  was  necessarily  dele- 
gated to  agents,  some  of  whom  were  violent  and  belligerent, 
and  disposed  to  force  obedience ;  others,  timid  or  weak  ;  and 
very  few  of  the  whole  number  competent  and  equal  to  the  task. 

3.  The  English  subjects  were  ever  encroaching  on  the 
Irish,  despoiling  them  of  their  lands,  and  treating  them  as  a 
conquered  people. 

^  4.  Grants  were  frequently  made  of  lands  in  possession  of 
the  Irish,  which  were  to  become  the  property  of  the  grantees 
as  soon  as  they  could  expel  the  Irish,  and  get  possession  for 
themselves. 

5.  English  subjects,  taking  advantage  of  the  embarrassments 
of  their  kings,  sometimes  renounced  their  allegiance,  joined 
the  Irish,  and  assumed  their  manners,  dress,  and  habits. 

6.  The  more  recent  English  settlers  in  Ireland,  and  the 
ancient  settlers,  came  into  collision,  and  engaged  in  warfare 
with  each  other. 

7.  The  Irish  considered  all  the  English  as  intruders  and 
usurpers,  and  either  held  all  treaties  to  be  forced,  and  of  no 
validity,  or  else  they  considered  treaties  to  be  valid  no  longer 
than  they  could  find  themselves  sufficiently  powerful  to  disre- 
gard them. 

8.  In  those  parts  of  the  island  which  were  not  subdued, 
the  Irish  continued  their  vindictive  wars,  which  were  fre- 
quently fomented  by  the  English,  and  often  the  English  joined 
in  those  wars,  on  one  side  or  the  other. 

9.  The  Roman  church  was,  in  the  mean  time,  extending 
its  power  over  the  minds  of  the  ignorant  and  superstitious 
people  of  the  country,  and  enriching  itself  with  the  acquisition 
of  lands,  donations,  and  exactions. 


IRELAND.  41 

10.  The  necessities  of  the  English  kings  compelled  them 
to  exact  supplies  from  the  church  and  the  laity,  which  it  was 
difficult  at  any  time,  and  sometimes  impossible  to  comply 
with. 

11.  The  laws  of  England  and  the  customs  of  the  native 
Irish  were  in  continual  conflict,  and,  consequently,  the  admin- 
istration of  justice  was  generally  nothing  else  than  the  power 
of  the  strongest. 

One  cannot  imagine  a  state  of  society  less  adapted  to  peace 
or  to  the  promotion  of  security  and  welfare,  nor  any  more 
adapted  to  promote  contentions,  violence,  and  crime. 

S  Among  the  events  of  these  336  years,  there  are  very  few 
which  are  worth  selecting ;  and  none  need  be  selected  but  for 
the  purpose  of  showing  how  these  discordant  elements  operat- 
ed to  effect  the  general  wretchedness  of  the  country. 

One  of  the  misfortunes  of  Ireland  was  the  appointment  of 
Henry  the  Second's  son  John  to  be  lord  of  Ireland.  John 
was  only  nineteen  years  old  when  his  father  sent  him,  with  a 
numerous  train  of  associates,  most  of  them  nearly  of  his  own 
age,  to  administer  the  government.  Henry  supposed  he  had 
sufficiently  guarded  against  youthful  indiscretion  by  sending 
over  with  his  son  an  eminent  lawyer,  Glanville,  as  his  moni- 
tor and  minister.  The  expectation  of  the  king's  son  in  Ire- 
land had  a  favorable  effect,  both  with  the  English  and  Irish. 
The  former  hoped  to  have  John's  aid  in  advancing  their 
objects ;  the  latter  hoped  that  restraints  would  be  put  on  Eng- 
lish usurpations.  Both  parties  were  greatly  disappointed. 
John  landed  at  Wexford  with  his  train  of  young  J?rench_ 
nobility,  gaily  adorned;  and  thither  came  the  rude  rough 
Irish  chiefs,  in  their  national  cloaks  and  bushy  beards,  to  ren- 
der homage  to  the  young  prince.  They  approached  the  glit- 
tering throng,  and,  according  to  their  custom  of  reverence, 
meant  to  kiss  the  prince.  This  the  young  lordlings  interposed 
to  prevent,  and  turned  these  visiters  into  ridicule,  and  even 

^went  so  far  as  to  pluck  the  beards  of  the  Irish,  and  otherwise 
insult  them.  This  was  an  unfortunate  beginning  for  the 
prince.  The  proud  chiefs  retired  indignant  and  revengeful, 
and  soon  united  their  countrymen  in  the  design  of  making  an 
effort  to  expel  the  insolent  English.  Meanwhile,  John  be- 
stowed on  his  followers  the  lands  of  the  Irish  who  still 
remained  within  the  English  part  of  the  island,  enriched  the 
church,  and  spent  the  money  intended  to  sustain  the  soldiery. 
In  the  midst  of  his  gay  career  he  was  astonished  to  find  that 
the  Irish  were  embodied,  in  formidable  numbers,  to  take  ven- 
4* 


42  IRELAND. 

geance.  At  the  end  of  eight  months,  Henry,  perceiving  that 
John's  administration  was  adding  to  the  evils  which  he  was 
sent  to  remedy,  and  creating  others  which  might  be  irremedia- 
ble, ordered  him  to  return  to  England,  and  a  new  viceroy 
was  sent  to  Ireland. 

Henry  died  in  1189,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Rich- 
ard the  First,  who  died  in  1 199.  During  his  reign,  John,  lord 
of  Ireland,  ordered  its  affairs  without  any  interference  on 
Richard's  part.  On  the  death  of  Richard,  John  succeeded  to 
the  English  crown,  and  the  lordship  of  Ireland  was  merged 
in  the  royal  right.  John's  eventful  and  troublesome  reign 
ended  in  1216.  ""Affairs,  during  his  reign,  present  only 
the  renewal  of  combinations,  sometimes  of  Irish  chiefs  against 
Irish  chiefs,  assisted  on  the  one  side  and  the  other  by  English 
subjects,  and  sometimes  combinations  of  English  and  Irish 
against  the  authority  of  John.  The  whole  presenting  scenes 
of  perfidy,  treachery,  cruelty,  superstition,  sudden  reverses, 
and  poignant  misery,  not  surpassed  in  any  history.  These 
troubles  induced  John  to  go  to  Ireland  in  1210.  His  presence 
was  attended  with  a  better  state  of  things.  He  found  that  the 
Irish  had  been  much  enfeebled  by  their  mutual  contentions, 
and  that  the  English,  reinforced  by  new  adventurers,  had  pen- 
etrated to  almost  every  part  of  the  island.  Having  made  some 
new  counties,  and  having  declared  some  new  laws,  and  taken 
measures  for  future  security,  he  returned  to  England. 

Henry  III.  was  only  nine  years  old  when  he  became  king, 
on  the  death  of  his  father,  John.  His  long  reign  of  fifty-six 
years,  was  full  of  troubles,  and  Ireland  had  little  of  his  atten- 
tion. Had  his  reign  been  ever  so  tranquil — had  he  been  the 
wisest  and  the  ablest  of  men — had  he  done  all  that  wisdom 
and  ability  could  permit,  Ireland  had  now  too  many  discordant 
and  irreconcilable  interests,  among  its  inhabitants,  to  be  brought 
to  a  state  of  order  and  peace/"  Nothing  but  an  overawing 
military  power  could  have  kept  the  rapacious  and  turbulent 
English,  and  the  exasperated  and  belligerent  Irish,  in  subjec- 
tion. There  is  nothing,  therefore,  in  this  long  reign  which 
varied  the  fortunes  of  Ireland.  Viceroys  appeared  in  Ireland 
in  rapid  succession,  seldom  well  selected,  and  never  successful 
in  their  efforts  to  govern.  Meanwhile,  the  church,  which 
never  slumbers  over  its  interests,  was  inserting,  slowly  and 
surely,  its  roots  on  Irish  soil ;  and  the  consequences  of  this 
indefatigable  industry  are  felt  at  the  present  day,  both  by  Eng- 
lish and  Irish,  in  both  islands.  Parliaments  had  often  been 
held  in  Ireland  before  the  reign  of  Henry  III. ;  and  complaints 


IRELAND.  43 

had  been  before  that  time  made,  that  the  miseries  experienced 
there  were  partly  occasioned  by  the  absence  of  English  land 
owners  from  Ireland.  This,  as  is  well  known,  is  still  a  cause 
of  complaint.  Many  proprietors  of  large  estates  pass  their 
lives  without  ever  seeing  them,  trusting  only  to  agents,  who 
have  no  interest  to  better  the  condition  of  tenants. 

During  the  reign  of  the  three  Edwards,  in  regular  succes- 
sion from  1272,  to  1377,  including  105  years,  the  history  of  Ire- 
land is  a  repetition  of  the  scenes  of  former  years,  from  the 
same  causes.  The  English  were  incessantly  at  variance  with 
the  Irish,  who  were  ever  in  arms  in  one  part  of  the  island  or 
another.  Within  this  time  they  sought  the  aid  of  the  Scotch. 
In  the  year  1315,  Edward  Bruce,  brother  of  Robert,  who  had 
ascended  the  throne  of  Scotland,  appeared  in  Ireland  with  an 
army,  and  caused  himself  to  be  crowned  at  Dundalk,  which  is 
on  the  East  coast,  North  of  Dublin.  He  penetrated  to  Dublin, 
and  still  further  South  ;  but  after  three  years  of  severe  conflicts 
he  fell  in  battle,  having  been  found  dead  with  the  dead  body 
of  his  conqueror  stretched  over  his  own.  They  are  supposed 
to  have  destroyed  each  other  in  the  conflict. 

From  1377  to  1509,  a  period  of  131  years,  ending  with  the 
accession  of  Henry  Eighth,  there  were  eight  English  kings 
who  regarded  Ireland  as  part  of  their  dominions.  There  will 
be  occasion  to  mention  these  kings  in  the  sketches  of  England, 
and  they  are  not,  therefore,  further  noticed  here,  in  the  order  of 
succession.  These  132  years  were  a  portion  of  time  in  which 
England  was  involved  in  great  difficulties.  No  effective  meas- 
ures were  taken  to  remedy  the  troubles  which  existed  in  Ire- 
land, from  the  causes  to  which  we  have  so  often  adverted. 

It  is  apparent,  from  this  rapid  sketch,  that  whatever  might 
have  been  the  destiny  of  this  unfortuate  and  beautiful  island,  it 
could  not  have  been  more  miserable  than  it  was,  from  the  inva- 
sion of  Henry  to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Its  miser- 
ies were  not  diminished  in  the  next  three  centuries,  and  this 
could  not  have  been  otherwise^  The  sovereign,  always  an  alien 
to  Ireland,  governed  that  country  by  delegates,  who  were  igno- 
rant of  the  language  spoken  by  those  who  were  to  J^e  govern- 
ed, and  who  did  not,  and  could  not  understand  the  laws  pre- 
scribed to  them.  The  English  possessed  nearly  the  whole  ter- 
ritory by  conquest,  or  by  grants,  made  by  an  authority  towards 
which  the  natives  maintained  an  implacable  enmity,  and  for 
very  justifiable  reasons.  An  exasperated  and  vindictive  people 
were  intermingled  with  their  invaders,  and  those  who  were 
not  wholly  subdued,  as  well  as  those  who  were,  awaited  only 


44  SCOTLAND. 

opportunities  to  revolt,  and  attempt  to  regain  their  indepen- 
dence, however  desperate  the  effort.  The  English  proprietors 
"of  Irish  estates,  rarely  saw,  and  more  rarely  dwelt  on  the 
island,  and  the  immediate  tenants  and  cultivators  were  subject- 
ed to  the  rapacity  and  insolence  of  stewards  and  agents.  The 
English  sovereigns  enforced  taxation  to  maintain  themselves 
in  wars  in  which  the  Irish  had  no  interest.  The  Roman 
Catholic  priesthood  enforced  their  exactions  while  they  cul- 
tivated a  superstitious  obedience  among  ignorant  communi- 
ties. These  are  among  the  elements  of  the  wretchedness 
which  was  the  lot  of  Ireland,  from  the  year  1500  to  the  present 
day.  There  have  been  abundant  facts  to  prove,  that  when  na- 
tive Irishmen  have  had  the  advantages  of  education,  and  have 
been  placed  in  competition  with  those  of  other  parts  of  the 
neighboring  island,  they  have  not  been  found  inferior.  Among 
those  who  have  contributed  to  British  renown,  whether  in  the 
cabinet,  in  parliament,  at  the  bar,  on  the  ocean,  or  in  the  field, 
not  a  few  of  them  were  born  in  the  Emerald  Isle. 


CHAPTER.  VII. 

SCOTLAND. 

Original  Population — Divisions  of  Society — Macbeth — Stuart  Origin — 
Maid  of  Norway — Succession  of  Baliol  and  Bruce  to  the  Crown —  Wal- 
lace— Succession  of  Kings — English  and  Scotch  Wars — Marriage  of 
Henry  VII.  daughter  with  James  IV. 

The  history  of  Scotland,  like  the  country  itself,  is  peculiar 
and  interesting.  Very  remarkable  persons,  and  very  extraor- 
dinary events  have  been  known  in  Scotland.  This  country  is 
almost  an  island  by  itself;  and  is  part  of  the  island  of  Great 
Britain.  On  the  West,  North  and  East,  the  boundary  is  the 
ocean ;  onrfhe  South,  it  bounds  on  England.  Its  position  on 
the  globe  is  far  to  the  North ;  the  Southern  extremity  being  in 
54°  45'  N.  lat.,  and  its  Northern  one  in  58°  40'.  Its  great- 
est length  from  North  to  South  is  about  280  miles ;  its  breadth 
very  various,  between  50  and  130  miles.  Its  square  miles  are 
about  30,000.  Geographers  divide  the  surface  into  two  nearly 
equal  parts ;  the  Northwestern  part  they  call  the  highlands, 
the  Southeastern  the  lowlands.     The  highlands  are  truly  such, 


SCOTLAND.  45 

having  many  ranges  of  mountains  between  3  and  4000  feet 
high,  and  some  still  higher.  Between  these  ranges,  in  deep 
and  narrow  vallies,  are  extensive  fresh  water  lakes.  Most  of 
these  highlands  are  barren  and  desolate,  and  form  a  dreary 
country ;  a  very  fit  habitation  for  the  imaginary  agents,  which 
make  a  striking  figure  in  the  old  Scottish  legends.  The  low- 
lands of  Scotland  are  Southeast  of  a  line  running  about  mid- 
way from  Southwest  to  Northeast.  Parts  of  these  lowlands 
are  described  as  fertile  and  beautiful,  and  would  be  so  consider- 
ed anywThere,  if  the  poetical  descriptions  of  natives  were  fully 
credited.  The  historical  events  of  Scotland  have  occurred, 
with  few  exceptions,  on  the  Southeastern  side,  or  in  the  low- 
lands, and  often  very  near  the  separating  line  between  the  high 
and  lowlands,  and  along  the  South  border,  adjoining  England. 
On  this  border  an  almost  incessant  warfare  was  carried  on, 
from  a  time  when  historical  records  begun,  to  1603,  when  Scot- 
land and  England  were  united. 

Scotland  was,  probably,  peopled,  as  all  the  West  of  Europe 
must  have  been,  by  some  portion  of  the  Celtic  race.  It  is  from 
the  Romans  that  the  first  knowledge  is  derived.  When  Caesar 
possessed  himself  of  the  South  parts  of  Great  Britain,  Scotland 
is  spoken  of  as  being  held  by  tribes  of  different  names,  but 
who  had  the  general  name  of  Caledonians.  The  most  known 
of  these  tribes  were  those  whom  the  Romans  called  the  Picts, 
who  often  met  the  Romans  as  formidable  enemies,  having  their 
bodies  painted, — whence  the  name.  These  ancient  Caledoni- 
ans on  the  extreme  West  of  the  Roman  Empire,  have  the 
proud  distinction  which  belongs  only  to  them,  and  to  the  bor- 
derers on  the  extreme  East  of  the  Empire,  the  Parthians,  that 
they  had  never  been  numbered  among  the  conquered.  In  the 
four  centuries  and  an  half  that  the  Romans  held  England,  there 
were  very  able  generals,  and  numerous  armies  employed 
against  the  Caledonians;  and  within  those  years  no  less  than 
six  Roman  Emperors  were  personally  present,  and  engaged  in 
this  warfare.  Down  to  the  present  day,  there  are  remnants 
along  the  borders  of  Scotland  and  England,  of  fortresses  and 
walls,  erected,  not  by  the  Caledonians  to  keep  the  Romans  out, 
but  by  the  Romans  to  prevent  the  coming  of  the  Caledonians. 
This  unquestionable  fact  is  conclusive  evidence  that  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  island  was  originally  held  by  a  powerful  and 
warlike  race,  whoever  they  may  have  been. 

In  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  the  Roman  Empire  was 
falling  into  ruins,  and  the  island  of  Great  Britain  was  aban- 
doned by  the  Romans  about  the  year  446.     About  half  a  cen- 


46  SCOTLAND. 

tury  afterwards  (in  503)  an  invasion  of  the  Southwest  part  of 
Scotland  is  said  to  have  been  made  from  Ireland.  The  invaders 
were  called  Scots,  from  an  Irish  term,  which  means  wander- 
ers; and  thence,  probably,  came  the  name  of  this  people.  After 
a  struggle  of  350  years,  the  Scots  became  masters,  and  gave 
their  name  to  the  country,  and  united  the  whole  under  one 
monarch.  From  this  time,  about  the  middle  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, the  country  is  called  Scotland,  and  its  inhabitants  Scots. 
Thence  to  the  year  1000,  that  is,  150  years,  if  there  were  any 
historical  records  which  could  be  relied  on,  they  could  disclose 
no  other  facts  than  such  as  are  known  to  have  occurred  in 
other  parts  of  Europe  about  the  same  time.  From  the  condi- 
tion of  society,  there  must  have  been  wars  between  clans,  re- 
bellions against  the  sovereign,  and  crimes,  punishment  and  ven- 
geance; in  short,  the  usual  action  of  men  in  like  circum- 
stances: there  are  some  peculiarities,  however,  to  be  noticed  : 
1.  The  nature  of  the  country  favored  the  independence  which, 
the  Scottish  Lords  assumed.  Their  strongholds  were  easily 
defended  in  the  mountains.  2.  There  wras  a  practice  among 
these  Lords  to  enter  into  covenants  or  mutual  alliance  to  carry 
on  wars  offensive  and  defensive.  3.  The  number  of  Lords 
were  remarkably  few,  and  as  they  held  nearly  the  whole  coun- 
try in  Lordships,  the  dependants  on  each  Lord  were  numer- 
ous. The  chief,  his  subordinates  and  followers,  constituted 
the  Scottish  clans,  each  one  having  its  own  family  name. 
These  are  peculiarities  which  enter  into  the  historical  details 
of  Scotland.  It  may  be  supposed  that  in  the  year  1000,  the 
inhabitants  of  this  territory  were  a  rude,  hardy  people,  familiar 
with  war,  and  subjected  to  the  command  of  nobles ;  and  over 
the  whole  a  king,  who  was  little  more  than  the  first  among  his 
equals.  Flocks,  herds,  horses,  they  had ;  some  knowledge  of 
agriculture,  also ;  perhaps  some  commerce  with  the  North  of 
the  European  continent.  Scotland  is  distant  from  Norway 
about  350  miles. 

Malcom  II.  was  king  in  Scotland  in  the  year  1003.  At  this 
time  the  Danes,  and  other  northern  nations,  infested  the  coasts 
of  Europe,  and  Scotland  had  its  full  share  of  invasion.  The 
successor  of  Malcom  was  Duncan,  his  grandson,  who  is  indebt- 
ed to  Shakspeare  for  a  lasting  fame.  This  is  the  person  whom 
Macbeth  slew,  and  then  usurped  the  throne.  How  near  the 
immortal  poet  pursued  the  truth  of  history,  in  his  unequalled 
drama,  is  very  uncertain,  and  equally  unimportant.  His  merit 
is  found  in  showing  how  human  nature  might  have  conducted 
itself,  if  there  had  been  such  persons  and  such  scenes  as  he  im- 


SCOTLAND.  47 

agines.  It  is  easy  to  believe,  from  the  character  of  the  age, 
that  the  ambitious  Thane,  or  Lord  Macbeth,  aspired  to  the 
Crown,  and  removed  the  man  who  wore  it  out  of  the  way,  and 
from  the  world,  if  that  were  necessary  to  his  purpose.  For  the 
details  of  Macbeth's  agency,  and  of  those  who  conspired  with 
him,  the  reading  community  are  indebted  to  the  poet's  imagina- 
tion. M^fcdufF,  and  a  son  of  Malcom,  who  met  in  England  as 
fugitives  from  Scotland,  with  the  aid  of  an  army  furnished  by 
the  English  King,  Edward  the  confessor,  overcame  and  slew 
Macbeth,  and  this  Malcom  became  King  in  1057 — the  third  of 
that  name- 

The  royal  name  of  Stuart,  so  familiar  in  Scottish  and  Eng- 
lish history,  was  first  known  in  the  reign  of  this  King.  Walter, 
the  grandson  of  Bancho,  having  rendered  essential  service  in 
suppressing  a  rebellion,  was  made  Lord  Steward  of  Scotland, 
a  great  and  hereditary  dignity.  This  was  about  the  year  1060. 
It  was  not  until  1371  that  a  descendant  from  this  person  came 
to  the  throne,  at  which  time  this  name  of  dignity  had  become  a 
family  name,  Stuart.  A  person  called  Gautier  Stuart  had  mar- 
ried Margerie,  the  daughter  of  king  Robert  I.  The  son  of 
this  Margerie  was  king  under  the  name  of  Robert  II.  From 
this  person  the  Royal  race  of  Stuart,  first  in  Scotland,  and  then 
in  England,  is  descended. 

Malcom  III.  had  become  acquainted  with  the  Saxon  prince 
Edgar  Etheling,  while  in  England,  and  when  William  the 
Conqueror  made  it  perilous  for  any  Saxon  prince  to  remain 
in  his  dominions,  Edgar  and  his  sister  sought  an  asylum  in 
Scotland,  and  his  sister  became  the  Queen  of  Malcom.  This 
king  died  in  1093.  During  the  next  two  hundred  years,  that 
is,  to  the  death  of  Alexander  the  third,  in  1286,  there  is  very 
little  worth  mentioning  in  Scottish  history.  All  that  is  impor- 
tant might  be  arranged  under  these  heads : — 1.  The  wars  be- 
tween the  Scotch  and  English.  2.  The  internal  commotions  or 
civil  wars  between  kings  and  nobles.  3.  The  unsuccessful  at- 
tempts of  the  Roman  Church  to  subject  Scotland,  as  it  had 
done  most  of  the  Christian  world,  to  its  own  absolute  domin- 
ion. 

Alexander  III.  and  Edward  I.  of  England,  were  contempo- 
raries about  1280.  They  had  frequent  trials  of  strength  in 
arms  with  various  success.  The  day  of  peace  and  friendship 
at  length  came  in  an  agreement  to  unite  the  prince  of  Wales, 
son  of  Edward  I.,  with  Margaret,  the  grand  daughter  of  Alex- 
ander, who  was  to  be  heiress  of  the  Scottish  throne,  in  right  of 
her  mother,  Alexander's  daughter,  who  had  married  Eric, 


48  SCOTLAND. 

king  of  Norway.  The  young  heiress  was  called  the  Maid  of 
Norway.  She  became  entitled  to  the  crown  on  the  death  of 
her  grandfather,  in  1286,  but  did  not  leave  Norway  till  1294. 
The  princess  (from  sickness)  died  on  her  passage,  at  or 
near  the  Orkney  Isles.  However  insignificant  this  event 
may  seem,  it  is  probable  that  it  had  a  most  enduring  and 
unfortunate  effect  on  the  peace  and  welfare  of  Scotland  and 
England.  If  the  two  kingdoms  had  been  united  at  the  end  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  or  in  1307,  as  they  would  have  been  if 
the  Maid  of  Norway  had  lived,  the  history  of  England  and  of 
Scotland  would  have  run  in  very  different  channels  from  that 
time  to  this.  It  is  very  probable  that  no  such  person  as  Eliza- 
beth would  have  worn  the  English  crown  ;  and  that  the  Scot- 
tish crown  would  not  have  been  torn  from  the  head  of  Mary,  and 
that  head  consigned  to  the  block,  by  the  relentless  Elizabeth. 

The  afflictive  consequences  of  this  young  Queen's  death 
were  immediately  felt.  The  Scottish  crown  appears  to  have 
been  inheritable,  though  not  limited,  clearly,  to  the  first-born. 
The  young  Queen  was  the  last  of  the  descendants  from  her 
ancestor  king  William,  who  died  just  80  years  before  her,  in 
1214.  To  find  an  heir  to  the  throne  it  was  necessary  to  go 
back  to  the  brother  of  William,  who  was  David,  Earl  of 
Huntington,  and  to  trace  the  descent  from  him.  This  Earl 
had  three  daughters.  1.  Margaret,  who  married  Allen,  Lord 
of  Galloway,  and  had  a  daughter  Dervigilda,  who  married 
John  Baliol.  Of  this  marriage  there  was  living,  in  1294,  a 
son,  John  Baliol,  who  claimed  the  crown.  2.  Isabella,  (sec- 
ond daughter  of  the  Earl,)  who  married  Robert  Bruce.  Of 
this  marriage  there  was  living,  in  1294,  a  son,  Robert  Bruce, 
who  claimed  the  crown.  3.  Adama,  who  married  Lord  Hast- 
ings. Of  this  marriage  there  was  living,  in  1294,  a  son,  John 
Hastings,  who  considered  the  kingdom  to  belong  equally  to 
himself  and  his  two  cousins.  These  competitors  agreed  to 
abide  by  the  decision  of  Edward  I.,  of  England,  who  awarded 
the  crown  to  John  Baliol.  Historians  say  that  his  motive  was 
entirely  selfish,  and  that  the  selection  of  Baliol  was  made,  be- 
cause he  would  be  most  easily  managed  by  Edward,  for  his 
own  purposes.  From  the  time  that  Baliol  assumed  the  crown, 
until  1371,  (75  years,)  Scotland  was  harassed  by  civil  wars  of 
the  most  vindictive  character,  carried  on  by  the  parties  of  Ba- 
liol and  Bruce,  assisted,  on  the  one  side  or  the  other,  by  the 
English.  In  1306  Robert  Bruce  became  king,  and  held  the 
throne  till  1329.  His  successor,  David,  the  second  of  the 
Bruces,  had  to  yield  the  crown  to  Edward  Baliol,  the  son  of 


SCOTLAND.  49 

John,  in  1332.  At  the  end  of  ten  years  David  had  expelled 
Edward,  and  was  again  king,  and  so  continued  till  his  death, 
in  1371.     Thus  the  Bruces  became  the  royal  race. 

These  75  years  are  an  exceedingly  interesting  portion  of  Scot- 
tish history.  It  was  in  the  conflicts  of  these  years  that  the  no- 
ble William  Wallace  appeared.  This  "  greatest  hero,  and  no- 
blest patriot  of  any  age,"  as  he  is  sometimes  called,  was  betray- 
ed into  the  power  of  the  English,  and  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill, 
London,  the  23d  of  August,  1305.  There  is  a  well  written 
novel,  called  the  Scottish  Chiefs,  of  which  William  Wallace 
is  the  hero.  In  the  year  1298,  July  22d,  was  fought  the 
mournful  battle  of  Falkirk,  where  Wallace  would  have  tri- 
umphed if  his  associates  had  conducted  like  himself.  There 
is  a  poem  on  this  battle  by  Anna  Seward.  On  the  25th  of 
June,  1314,  the  Scotch  well  avenged  upon  the  English  the 
death  of  Wallace,  at  the  battle  of  Bannockburn,  where  30,000 
Scots,  under  Bruce,  completely  vanquished  the  English  army 
of  100,000. 

Our  limits  do  not  permit  even  the  mention  of  the  several  bat- 
tles which  were  fought  in  this  contest  between  the  Bruces  and 
the  Baliols.  The  whole  territory,  on  both  sides  the  border, 
and  thence  northwardly  to  the  river  Forth;  and  up  the  valley, 
northwestwardly,  to  the  highlands,  has  been  again  and  again 
saturated  with  the  best  blood  of  the  Scotch  and  English.  The 
river  Forth  rises  near  the  lake  Ben  Lomond,  and  runs  east- 
wardly  into  the  frith  of  Forth,  which  empties  into  the  North 
sea.  Edinburgh  is  on  the  south  side  of  the  Frith,  and  about 
two  miles  from  it.  Within  50  miles,  northwestwardly  from 
that  city,  and  in  the  valley  through  which  the  river  Forth  runs, 
are  some  memorable  places;  Linlithgow,  the  ancient  castle  of 
Sterling,  the  battle-ground  of  Falkirk  and  Bannockburn.  The 
river  Tweed,  which  divides  Scotland  and  England,  is  about  50 
miles  south  of  the  Frith  of  Forth. 

The  first  king  of  the  name  of  Bruce.  Robert  I.,  had  a 
daughter  Margerie,  who  married,  as  before  mentioned,  Gautier 
Stuart;  and  of  this  marriage  the  son  Robert  II.  became  king 
in  1371,  and  died  in  1390.  This  Robert  the  second  united  the 
families  of  Bruce  and  Stuart  as  the  reigning  Royal  House. 
From  the  death  of  Robert  II.  (1390)  till  Scotland  and  England 
came  under  the  dominion  of  James  VI.  of  Scotland,  (who  was 
James  I.  of  England)  is  a  space  of  213  years,  ending  in 
1603.  It  will  be  most  convenient  to  state  the  succession  of  the 
Scottish  Stuarts,  and  then  to  notice  such  events  as  should  be 
noticed  in  these  213  years. 
5 


50  SCOTLAND. 

Robert  III.,  son  of  Robert  II.,  crowned  1390,  died  1406. 

James  I.,  son  of  Robert  III.,  crowned  1406,  assassinated 
1437. 

James  II.,  son  of  James  I.,  crowned  1437,  killed  1460. 

James  III.,  son  of  James  II.,  crowned  1460,  killed  1488. 

James  IV.,  son  of  James  III.,  crowned  1488,  killed  1513. 

This  person  married  Margeret,  the  daughter  of  Henry  VII., 
of  England,  in  right  of  whom  the  Stuart  family  of  Scotland  as- 
cended the  English  throne. 

James  V.,  son  of  James  IV.,  crowned  1513,  died  1542.  This 
person  married  a  French  princess,  who  was  the  mother  of 
Mary  Stuart,  who  succeeded  to  the  Scotch  throne  on  her  father's 
death.  Mary  abdicated  the  throne  in  1567,  and  her  son,  James 
VI.,  (by  Henry  Stuart,  called  Lord  Darnley,)  became  king 
while  an  infant.  On  the  death  of  Elizabeth  of  England,  in 
1603,  James  became  king  of  England,  by  the  name  of  James  I. 
.  It  is  repugnant  to  common  sense,  that  a  particular  family 
should  have  an  exclusive  and  hereditary  right  to  govern  a 
whole  nation.  Yet  this  is  the  mode  of  government  to  which 
most  nations,  in  all  ages,  have  submitted.  Hence  the  immedi- 
ate successor  of  an  able  and  virtuous  king  may  be  the  feeblest 
and  most  unworthy  among  millions,  and  may  be  even  an  in- 
fant, and  that  infant  a  female.  The  evils  incident  to  this  kind 
of  succession  are  among  the  most  sorrowful  pages  of  history. 
If  there  should  be  a  sovereign,  in  his  own  right,  by  the  mere 
accident  of  birth,  it  must  be  on  the  principle  that  the  sovereign 
has  the  power  and  the  will  so  to  govern  his  subjects,  as  to  se- 
cure to  them  peace  and  happiness,  and  thereby  entitle  himself 
to  obedience  and  support.  But  this  ground-work  of  power  on 
the  one  side,  and  submission  on  the  other,  disappears  when 
the  sovereign  is  too  young,  or  too  feeble  to  have  any  will  of  his 
own. 

The  historian,  Robertson,  (speaking  of  his  own  country,) 
says, — "  Never  was  any  race  of  monarchs  so  unfortunate  as  the 
Scottish.  Of  six  successive  princes,  from  Robert  III.  to  James 
VI.,  not  one  died  a  natural  death ;  and  the  minorities,  during 
that  time,  were  longer  and  more  frequent  than  ever  happened 
in  any  other  kingdom.  From  Robert  Bruce  (1306)  to  James 
VI.,  (1567)  we  reckon  ten  princes;  seven  of  these  were  called 
to  the  throne  while  they  were  minors,  and  almost  infants." 

The  object  of  all  rulers,  whether  elected  or  hereditary,  cer- 
tainly should  be  to  secure  the  country  and  people  from  invasion 
by  foreign  enemies :  to  cause  justice  to  be  administered ;  and 
to  enable  every  individual,  under  the  protection  of  righteous 


SCOTLAND.  51 

# 

laws  and  just  magistrates,  to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  life. 
Whether  these  rational  purposes  of  civil  government  can  be 
obtained  or  not,  depends  on  the  ability  of  rulers  and  the  dispo- 
sition of  a  people  to  be  ruled.  No  people  ever  had  worse 
rulers,  and  no  people  were  ever  worse  fitted  to  be  ruled,  than 
those  of  Scotland  from  1306  to  1567.  It  will  be  sufficient  for 
the  present  purpose  to  show  how  such  a  state  of  things  was 
peculiar  to  Scotland. 

The  manner  in  which  the  princes  of  Scotland  came  to  their 
deaths,  (as  Robertson  says,)  shows  a  rebellious  and  turbulent 
state  of  society.  While  the  chief  person  (by  whatever  name 
called)  of  many  warlike  tribes  or  clans,  could  lead  them 
against  a  common  enemy,  he  was  likely  to  be  confided  in  and 
respected.  When  there  was  no  such  object  of  employment, 
these  tribes  or  clans  must  have  employed  themselves  against 
each  other  and  against  their  sovereign :  against  each  other, 
from  motives  of  rivalry  and  jealousy ;  against  the  sovereign, 
in  resisting  his  attempts  to  control  and  govern.  The  history 
of  Scotland  is  nothing  else  than  a  series  of  internal  conflicts 
and  external  wars.  During  the  whole  lapse  of  years  from 
Robert  III.  to  James  VI.,  the  successive  kings  of  England 
were  jealous  of  the  power  of  Scotland,  and  always  ready  to 
take  advantage  of  its  internal  commotions  to  subdue  the  coun- 
try, or  aid  its  inhabitants  to  weaken  and  destroy  each  other. 
The  cessation  of  war  on  the  borders  occurred  only  when  the 
English  kings  were  too  much  engrossed  by  wars  on  the  con* 
tinent,  or  by  civil  wars  or  rebellions,  to  let  Scotland  alone. 
From  such  causes,  the  Scottish  nation  had  made  less  advances 
from  the  ignorance  and  barbarity  of  the  dark  ages  than  the 
French  or  English. 

The  great  lords  of  Scotland  were  absolute  sovereigns  in 
their  own  territories.  They  made  laws  and  caused  them  to 
be  executed,  without  regard  to  the  king  or  national  govern- 
ment ;  and  were  ever  ready  to  maintain  what  they  considered 
to  be  their  rights,  by  the  sword.  It  was  one  great  object  with 
the  Scottish  kings  to  extend  the  laws  of  parliament  over  the 
nobles,  and  to  establish  courts  of  justice  to  which  the  nobles 
might  be  compelled  to  submit.  Though  James  I.  took  the 
first  measures  towards  establishing  such  courts,  it  was  not 
until  the  reign  of  James  V.  that  the  courts  were  fully  organ- 
ized and  in  action,  about  1540. 

Henry  VII.  of  England  succeeded  in  establishing  a  friendly 
relation  between  himself  and  James  IV.  of  Scotland,  by  be- 
stowing his  oldest  daughter,  Margaret,  in  marriage.     Henry 


52  SCOTLAND. 

conducted  his  daughter,  with  great  pomp  and  ceremony, through 
Northamptonshire,  on  her  way  to  Scotland.  James  came  to 
the  borders  of  his  kingdom  to  receive  his  intended  bride, 
accompanied  by  a  numerous  train  of  Scottish  nobles.  Jame3 
conducted  the  English  princess  into  Edinburgh,  seated  behind 
himself  on  the  same  horse,  and  the  marriage  was  solemnized 
at  the  chapel  of  Holyrood  house,  in  the  year  1504. 

This  family  alliance  was  not  sufficient  to  preserve  peace 
between  the  two  countries.  Scotland  had  long  been  in  a  state 
of  very  friendly  relation  with  France.  When  Henry  VIII. 
of  England  was  drawn  into  a  war  with  Louis  XII.  of  France, 
and  actually  invaded  that  country,  Louis  called  on  James  to 
aid  his  cause  by  invading  England.  This  call  was  enforced 
by  Anne  of  Brittany,  the  Queen  of  Louis,  whose  champion, 
in  the  courts  of  chivalry,  James  had  assumed  to  be.  A  cause 
of  war  and  invasion  was  easily  found  in  these  days.  A  Scotch- 
man, who  had  conducted  a  vessel  to  Portugal,  had  been  so  treated 
there,  and  dispossessed  of  his  property,  as  to  obtain  an  authority 
from  his  sovereign,  James,  to  go  to  sea  armed,  and  make  repri- 
sal on  any  Portuguese  subjects,  and  satisfy  himself.  This 
Scotchman  so  conducted  himself  in  the  English  channel  as  to 
be  considered  a  pirate,  and  was  carried  into  England  and 
hanged.  James  affected  to  regard  this  act  as  a  sufficient  justi- 
fication for  invading  England,  Henry  VIII.  being  then  en- 
gaged in  carrying  on  the  war  in  France.  James  IV.  appears 
to  have  considered  the  invasion  more  as  an  excursion  for  mili- 
tary exercise  than  as  an  affair  of  serious  war.  Having  had 
the  good  fortune  to  be  more  generally  esteemed  and  respected 
by  his  nobles  than  any  of  his  predecessors,  he  was  attended, 
on  this  occasion,  by  many  and  the  highest  in  his  kingdom. 
An  English  force,  hastily  gathered,  with  about  five  thousand 
men  sent  from  France  by  Henry,  met  James  at  Flowden  field, 
just  on  the  borders,  and  not  far  from  Berwick  on  the  Tweed. 
Here  was  fought,  in  the  year  1513,  a  battle  of  mournful  and 
disastrous  result  to  the  Scotch,  and  with  little  loss  to  the  Eng- 
lish. By  some  unaccountable  negligence  on  the  one  side,  and 
mere  good  fortune  on  the  other,  James,  and  all  the  chief  nobles 
of  Scotland  perished,  while  hardly  one  person  of  any  distinc- 
tion fell  on  the  side  of  the  English.  By  this  event,  James  V., 
then  less  than  two  years  of  age,  became  king  of  Scotland. 
The  marriage  of  James  IV.  of  Scotland,  with  Margaret, 
the  daughter  of  Henry  VII.  of  England,  was  the  cause  of 
that  serious  and  complicated  misfortune,  the  placing  the  Stuart 
family  on  the  English  throne. 


SCOTLAND.  53 

We  have  come  down  to  a  period  in  Scottish  history  within 
three  centuries  of  the  present  time.  It  is  remarkable  that  his- 
torical records,  so  far,  afford  very  little  information  of  the 
interior  state  of  Scotland.  Whatever  the  just  claims  of  the 
Scotch  nation  may  be,  at  this  day,  to  literary  and  scientific 
distinction,  (and  these  are  not  now  second  to  the  claims  of  any 
other  nation,)  they  had  few  such  claims  three  hundred  years 
ago.  The  Scotch,  though  surrounded  by  ocean,  had  not  made 
much  figure  as  a  commercial  or  naval  people.  They  do  not 
appear  to  have  been  extensively  a  manufacturing  people.  In 
Macpherson's  first  volume  on  Commerce,  there  are  several 
notices  of  the  Scots  as  engaged  in  the  herring  fishery,  and 
in  commerce,  but  not  a  valuable  one  on  their  part.  Their 
country  is  not  adapted  to  profitable  agriculture,  generally. 
More  than  one  half  of  it  is  unfit  for  any  cultivation,  and  large 
portions  of  it  are  barren  and  desolate.  These  facts  lead  to  the 
conclusion,  that  the  great  lords  of  Scotland  lived  in  their  spa- 
cious and  fortified  enclosures,  in  a  rude  grandeur,  with  numer- 
ous dependants,  and  as  separate  and  independent  families.  It 
is  probable  that  harmony  and  subordination  were  preserved  in 
these  families  by  the  supreme  authority  of  the  laird  or  chief, 
sole  proprietor  of  the  whole  territory  over  which  he  ruled ; 
and  also  by  the  fear  which  each  family  entertained  of  the 
enmity  and  power  of  other  families.  This  was  a  state  of 
society  well  adapted  to  bring  out  and  to  invigorate  certain  he- 
roical  virtues,  and  to  give  illustrious  names  to  some  individu- 
als. Hardihood,  courage,  magnanimity,  are  well  known  to 
have  been  qualities  of  Scottish  chiefs,  from  the  ballads  and 
popular  songs  of  the  country.*  But,  side  by  side  with  these 
qualities,  must  be  placed  the  thirst  for  dominion,  revenge,  and 
unrelenting  hold  on  ancient  enmities,  from  sire  to  son.  These 
are  indications  of  qualities,  out  of  which  fine  national  traits 
may  be  wrought.  Probably  the  modern  Scots  may  not  fear 
comparison  with  any  people. 

We  must  leave  these  sketches  of  the  Scots  here,  at  the  time 
when  James  V.  came  to  the  throne,  in  the  year  1513,  he  being 
then  only  eighteen  months  old.  This  person  was  the  father 
of  Mary  Stuart,  known  in  history  as  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots. 

*  Out  of  these  ballads,  or  what  he  assumed  to  be  such,  Macpherson 
made  up  his  celebrated  work,  called  "  Ossian's  Poems."  Thomas 
Moore,  in  his  History  of  Ireland,  (as  has  been  noticed  in  sketches  of 
that  country,)  has  demonstrated  that  Macpherson  is  indebted  to  Irish 
bards  for  his  renown,  and  that  he  is  chargeable  with  a  designed  imposition 
on  the  literary  world. 

5* 


54  SAXONS — ENGLAND. 

Notices  of  her  father,  of  herself,  and  of  her  son  James,  come 
within  the  next  intended  division.  The  personal  and  histor- 
ical facts  of  these  three  individuals  are  so  interwoven  with 
English  history,  and  especially  with  English  events  while 
Elizabeth  was  the  English  sovereign,  that  it  will  be  more 
intelligible  as  well  as  convenient,  to  treat  of  them  in  notices  of 
England.  From  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  in  1603,  the  sovereign 
of  Scotland  and  of  England  has  always  been  the  same  person. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SAXONS ENGLAND. 

Cczsar's  Conquest  of  England — Roman  Dominion — the  Saxons. 

England  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  English  channel, 
which  is  between  it  and  France ;  on  the  east  by  the  German 
ocean  ;  on  the  north  by  Scotland,  from  which  it  is  separated 
by  the  Tweed,  the  Cheviot  hills,  and  the  Frith  of  Solway ;  on 
the  west  by  the  Irish  sea  and  St.  George's  channel.  The 
greatest  length  of  England  is  about  400  miles  from  north  to 
south,  between  49°  58'  and  55°  45'  north  latitude.  The  greatest 
breadth  is  in  the  south  part,  280  miles,  while  in  the  north,  the 
narrowest  part  is  less  than  100.  The  eastern  parts  are  gene- 
rally level :  along  the  western  side  of  England  are  hills,  some 
of  which  are  called  mountains,  and  between  these  high  lands 
and  the  salt  water  on  the  east,  are  territories  of  varied  surface. 
The  principal  rivers,  with  two  exceptions,  the  Severn  and  the 
Mersey,  flow  from  west  to  east.  England  is  most  favorably  situ- 
ated for  commerce  and  maritime  power,  and  has,  within  itself, 
abundant  riches  in  minerals ;  but  far  more  important  riches  in 
the  industry  and  ingenuity  of  its  inhabitants,  and  in  its  social 
and  political  relations.  As  this  is  emphatically  the  land  of 
American  ancestry,  a  more  comprehensive  notice  is  required 
in  these  sketches  than  of  any  other  country — beginning  with 
the  Saxons,  the  common  ancestors  of  the  English  and  Ameri- 
cans. 

The  following  compilation  on  the  Saxons  is  made  from  the 
elaborate,  accurate,  and  extensive  research  of  Sharon  Turner, 
a  gentleman  bred  to  the  profession  of  the  law,  and  who  has 
bestowed  on  his  countrymen  other  valuable  works  on  Eng- 
land.    He  is  still  living.     Americans,  as  well  as  the  English, 


SAXONS ENGLAND.  55 

may  be  justly  proud  of  their  Saxon  progenitors.  Their  social 
and  political  principles  are  alike  respected  in  both  nations, 
and  both  of  them  speak  a  language  which  is  undoubtedly 
of  Saxon  origin.  Notwithstanding  the  intermixture,  first  of 
Danish,  and  then  of  Norman  laws,  custom,  and  language, 
happily,  the  Saxon  has  finally  prevailed  over  them,  and  they 
are  now  hardly  discernible.  The  best  informed  historians, 
and  Sir  James  Mcintosh  among  others,  consider  the  Saxons  to 
have  been  the  founders  of  English  liberty,  and  as  such  enti- 
tled to  respect  and  gratitude.  They  are  equally  entitled  to 
like  sentiments  from  all  who  claim  to  be  of  English  descent ; 
nor  from  these  only,  but  from  all  American  citizens,  as  all 
enjoy  the  benefit  of  Saxon  freedom,  modified  and  improved 
under  republican  institutions. 

The  name  of  Britain  was  given  to  the  island  by  the  Romans. 
Brit  was  said  to  mean  parti-colored,  from  the  custom  of  paint- 
ing the  body.  Other  derivations  are  also  given.  The  Ro- 
mans called  it  Britannia  major,  and  a  part  of  the  opposite 
French  coast  (Brittany)  Britannia  minor.  Pliny,  in  his  natu- 
ral history,  says,  (1.  iv.  c.  16,)  that  the  island  was  formerly 
called  Albion.  The  name  Albion  (perhaps  from  the  white 
cliffs)  was  of  Latin  origin.  England  is  derived  from  one 
of  the  Saxon  races,  the  Angles,  who  came  from  the  north. 

Caesar  undertook  the  conquest  of  Britain  in  the  year  52 
B.  C.  It  was  then  possessed  by  a  people  of  Kimmerian  ori- 
gin, (Turner  says,)  but  called  Celts.  They  had  Druids  for 
their  religious  teachers,  and  bards  for  poetical  historians.  The 
Romans  finally  conquered  what  is  now  England,  and  held  it 
as  a  Roman  province  about  five  hundred  years.  The  emperor 
Vespasian  was  in  England  and  appointed  Agricola  to  the 
command  there,  who,  about  the  year  79,  defended  the  northern 
frontier  by  a  chain  of  posts  from  the  Frith  of  Forth  to  that  of 
Clyde.  In  120,  the  emperor  Adrian  repaired  and  strength- 
ened the  fortifications  of  Agricola,  and  erected  a  second  wall 
from  Solway  Frith  to  fiifc  north  of  the  Tyne,  of  which  there 
are  some  remains.  In  138  another  wall  was  erected,  in  the 
time  of  Antoninus,  along  the  northern  frontier.  The  Romans 
were  unable  to  subdue  the  mountainous  regions  of  Wales. 
Thither  many  Britons  retired  from  Roman  dominion,  and 
there  preserved,  from  generation  to  generation,  their  implaca- 
ble enmity  to  the  Romans.  They  preserved,  too,  their  national 
language  and  customs,  which  still  appear  among  them,  chang- 
ed as  they  may  have  been  in  the  lapse  of  ages. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century,  a  person  appeared 


56  SAXONS ENGLAND 

in  the  Welsh  mountains  by  the  name  of  King  Arthur.  The 
bards  made  him  a  subject  of  song  and  fable,  which  nothing 
ever  said  or  done  by  him  or  any  other  man,  could  warrant. 
His  imaginary  achievements  have  descended  to  the  present 
day.  It  is  said  that  the  round  table  of  King  Arthur's  twenty- 
four  knights  is  still  shown  at  or  near  Winchester,  in  England, 
though  no  well-informed  person  believes  that  Arthur  ever  saw 
his  knights  (if  he  had  any)  around  this  table,  or  ever  saw  this 
table  itself.  The  whole  truth  about  this  personage  probably 
is,  (as  Turner  says,)  that  he  was  a  bold  and  powerful  warrior, 
partaking  eminently  in  the  rude  qualities  which  gave  celebrity 
from  the  successful  use  of  arms.  He  is  supposed  to  have 
been  born  in  South  Wales,  about  the  year  501,  and  to  have 
died  in  542.  His  remains  were  discovered  at  Glastenbury, 
twenty  miles  south-west  of  the  city  of  Bath,  in  1189.  Monk- 
ish traditions  pointed  out  the  place  of  burial.  At  the  abbey 
there,  between  two  stone  pillars,  seven  feet  below  the  surface, 
a  leaden  cross  was  found,  under  a  stone ;  nine  feet  below  the 
stone  an  oaken  coffin  was  found,  containing  the  remains  of 
Arthur.  A  Latin  inscription  showed  this  to  be  Arthur's 
grave. 

The  falling  fortunes  of  the  Roman  empire,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  fifth  century,  caused  Britain  to  be  abandoned  between 
the  years  410  and  446.  In  the  five  centuries  which  elapsed 
under  Roman  dominion,  laws,  customs,  arts,  sciences  had 
been  introduced,  and  there  was  such  refinement  and  such  de- 
basement as  would  arise  from  Roman  examples.  The  power 
of  the  conquerors  was  maintained  by  the  presence  of  Roman 
legions,  and  these  the  Britons  were  compelled  to  support. 
Burthensome  as  they  held  this  imposition  to  be,  the  legions 
were  hardly  gone  before  their  utility  was  discerned,  as  the 
only  defence  and  security  against  the  ancient  enemies  of  the 
Britons  in  the  north.  Their  humiliation  is  found  in  the 
prayer  transmitted  to  the  Roman  general,  iEtius,  in  Gaul,  to 
come  to  their  relief: — "  The  barbarians  chase  us  into  the  sea ; 
the  sea  throws  us  back  on  the  barbarians :  we  have  only  the 
hard  choice  left  us  of  perishing  by  the  sword  or  by  the 
waves."  (Hume,  chap,  i.)  The  Romans  were  too  much 
engaged  in  defending  themselves  from  the  Franks,  who  were 
coming  upon  them  from  beyond  the  Rhine,  to  attend  to  any 
people's  safety  but  their  own.  It  is  well  ascertained  that  the 
dominion  of  the  Romans  in  Britain  had  become  corrupt  and 
oppressive  to  an  extent,  which  would  have  made  their  presence 
hardly  less  tolerable  than  either  of  the  evils  of  which  the  Brit- 
ons complained. 


SAXONS ENGLAND.  57 

The  Britons  were  thus  driven  to  the  necessity  of  asking  aid 
from  the  Saxons,  and  this  event  introduced  a  long  train  of  con- 
sequences in  which  every  one,  who  speaks  the  English  lan- 
guage, as  his  native  tongue,  is  directly  interested.  It  is  as  dif- 
ficult as  unnecessary  to  settle  whether  the  people  who  dwelt 
around  the  banks  of  the  Elbe,  and  thence  northwardly  and 
eastwardly,  to  the  shores  of  the  Baltic,  were  of  the  ancient 
Kemmerian  stock,  or  whether  they  were  of  the  supposed  Goth- 
ic stock,  that,  at  some  unknown  time,  had  followed  the  Kemme- 
rians  from  Asia ;  or  whether  they  were  of  that  intermixture 
(through  numerous  wars  and  conquests)  which  must  have  oc- 
curred in  the  lapse  of  ages.  When  the  Saxons  were  thus  in- 
vited to  come  to  Britain,  it  was  not  the  act  of  all  the  people  but 
of  some  few  of  the  many  tribes  or  kingdoms,  which  had  divid- 
ed the  territory  after  the  Romans  withdrew ;  and  who  were  as 
hostile  towards  each  other,  as  they  were  united  against  their 
northern  foes. 

The  settlement  of  the  Saxons  in  England,  and  its  conse- 
quences, will  be  better  understood  if  a  brief  description  of  them 
be  first  given.  Like  the  early  Greeks,  most  of  the  northern 
tribes  were  sea-rovers,  or  pirates.  They  were  driven  to  such 
employments  by  the  want  of  food  in  proportion  to  numbers, 
and  by  a  spirit  of  adventure  and  restlessness,  which  had  no 
means  of  satisfying  itself  at  home.  They  had  no  employment 
for  the  mind,  none  for  the  hands,  on  the  shore,  while  the  hope 
of  plunder,  and  the  exciting  action  of  seafaring  incidents,  gave 
employment  to  both.  They  formed  themselves  into  companies, 
and  embarked,  in  greater  or  smaller  numbers,  in  vessels  under 
the  command  of  sea  kings,  as  they  were  called,  and  suddenly 
threw  themselves  upon  coasts,  near  or  distant,  where  they  hoped 
a  reward  for  their  daring  enterprise.  Their  vessels  are  thus 
described  by  Gibbon,  chap.  XXV. :  "  The  keel  of  their  large 
flat-bottomed  boats  was  framed  of  light  timber ;  but  the  sides 
and  upper  works  consisted  only  of  a  wicker,  with  a  covering 
of  strong  hides.  The  Saxon  1  oats  drew  so  little  water  that 
they  could  easily  proceed  fourscore  or  100  miles  up  the  great 
rivers:  their  weight  was  so  inconsiderable,  that  they  were 
transported  on  wagons,  from  one  river  to  another." 

Their  religion  was  the  worst  form  of  pagan  worship,  but 
not  much  worse,  nor  much  unlike,  that  of  early  Greeks  and 
Romans.  Here,  as  elsewhere  among  barbarians,  religious 
ceremonies  consisted,  not  in  adoration  and  gratitude  for  bless- 
ings, but  in  sacrifices  and  offerings  to  propitiate  malevolent  dei- 
ties.    Hostile  tribes  sacrificed  their  prisoners ;  parents  some- 


58  SAXONS ENGLAND. 

• 

times  offered  up  their  children,  and  kings  their  subjects,  to  avert 
individual  suffering,  pestilence,  famine  or  disastrous  war. 
(Wheaton's  History  of  Northmen,  125.)  Among  all  barbarous 
people,  wherever  there  is  religion,  there  are  ministers  of  relig- 
ion ;  and  where  these  are,  there  are  ever  mysteries,  ceremo- 
nies, and  superstitions,  adapted  to  keep  the  uninformed  in  sub- 
jection and  awe.  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  kings  and  mili- 
tary chiefs  should  add  to  their  own  authority  that  of  the 
priesthood,  because  such  was  often  the  case  among  the  Jews, 
Greeks,  and  Romans.  It  is  seen,  in  every  age,  that  civil  author- 
ity has  leaned  on  that  assumed  by  the  priesthood  until  very 
recent  times.  An  earthly  potentate  who  assumes  to  act  under 
the  will  of  Heaven,  and  who  can  enforce  his  own  will  by  the 
terrors  of  a  future  world,  has  little  need  of  swords  and  bayon- 
ets to  make  his  subjects  obedient. 

The  love  of  glory,  the  renown  of  heroes  and  of  ancestry, 
are  dear  to  men,  civilized  or  savage.  History,  as  now  known 
through  the  press,  was  preceded  by  narrations,  by  traditionary 
songs  and  recitals.  Thus,  the  Celts  had  their  bards,  the  Sax- 
ons had  their  scalds.  This  historical  poetry  demanded  a  dis- 
tinct profession  of  men,  alike  indispensable  at  the  rude  carou- 
sal, in  popular  assemblies,  and  at  the  eve  of  battle.  The  ele- 
ments of  existence  were,  among  Saxons  as  among  other  rude 
people,  few,  simple  and  decided — food,  shelter,  war,  religion, 
sensual  indulgence.  These  elements  contained  the  propensi- 
ties susceptible  of  being  fashioned  into  commendable  and  wor- 
thy qualities. 

The  Saxons  are  represented  as  persons  of  the  largest  size, 
light  complexion,  blue  eyes,  and  long  hair,  and  of  this  they 
were  proud  as  an  ornament.  They  were  disinclined  to  inter- 
marry with  other  tribes.  They  wore  loose  linen  vests,  adorn- 
ed with  trimmings,  interwoven  in  different  colors.  Their  ex- 
ternal garment  was  a  cloak.  Their  arms  were  small  shields, 
long  lances,  great  knives,  or  crooked  swords.  Their  shields 
were  suspended  from  their  necks  by  chains ;  their  horsemen 
wore  heavy  armor,  and  used  iron  sledge-hammers.  (Turner, 
book  7,  ch.  1.)  Their  females  wore  gowns,  and  had  ornaments 
for  the  arms,  hands  and  neck.  The  ancient  distinction  of  class- 
es appeared  afterwards  in  the  English  laws  ;  the  noble,  the  free 
man,  the  freed  man,  and  the  slave.  These  classes  did  not  inter- 
marry, for  this  was  prohibited ;  especially  the  nobles  were 
jealous  of  their  race  and  rank.  Their  forms  of  government, 
like  most  of  those  of  early  Asiatic  origin,  was  patriarchal  or 
that  of  elders,  in  virtue  of  their  experience  and  wisdom.  Earl 


SAXONS ENGLAND.  59 

signified  Elder,  and  Alderman  was  a  Saxon  general.  The. 
distinction  of  Earl  and  of  Alderman,  at  the  present  time,  is 
thus  easily  traced.  The  continental  Saxons  had  no  king,  but 
many  chiefs  set  over  the  people — from  among  whom,  when  war 
occurred,  was  selected  a  leader,  whose  power  ceased  with  the 
war. 

The  early  stages  of  all  nations  who  have  been  known  to  ad- 
vance from  a  state  of  barbarism  to  civilization,  seem  to  be 
much  alike.  Some  renowned  chief  is  made  a  deity,  and  in  a 
few  generations,  by  poetical  fancy,  however  rude,  is  easily 
associated  with  religious  reverence,  and  converted  into  an 
object  of  worship.  Time,  instead  of  wearing  out  these  delu- 
sions, throws  an  awful  sanctity  around  them,  which  reason 
dares  not  to  investigate.  When  it  is  seen  that  the  learned  and 
elegant  Greeks,  cherished  the  memory  of  Hercules,  and  offer- 
ed prayers  to  him,  and  that  the  intelligent  and  refined  Romans 
worshipped  their  Numa,  and  many  others  who  were  once  mor- 
tals, the  Saxons  may  not  deserve  reproach  for  believing  that 
they  should  meet  with  Oden,  and  feast  with  him  in  his  blessed 
halls,  when  the  toil  of  life  should  be  accomplished. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Sax&ns  in  England — Heptarchy — Consolidation — Egbert — Danish  Inva- 
sion— Alfred. 

In  the  year  449,  Hengest  and  Horsa  appeared  in  England, 
with  three  vessels,  and  1600  followers.  They  were  successful 
in  helping  the  Britons  to  drive  back  their  northern  foes ;  but 
these  friends  in  that  warfare  soon  became  the  enemies  of  those 
whom  they  were  invited  to  protect.  During  one  hundred  years, 
next  following,  a  succession  of  adventurers  from  the  same 
northern  region,  arrived  in  England.  They  were  not  all  Sax- 
ons, but  were  distinguished  by  names  derived  frorn  the  name 
of  the  land,  or  districts  of  country  from  which  they  came. 
Thus,  the  Angles,  the  Jutes,  and  the  Frisians,  are  among  those 
who  appear  among  the  invaders  of  England  in  this  time. 
About  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  the  Saxons  and  their  as- 
sociates, had  conquered  the  whole  of  Britain,  and  had  reduced      % 


60  SAXONS ENGLAND. 

the  Britons  to  subjects,  or  slaves,  and  the  Angles  appear  to 
have  given  their  name  to  the  country.  About  the  year  550, 
England  having  been  conquered,  the  ancient  Britons  no  more 
appear  as  a  people.  Whoever  and  whatever  existed  there, 
whether  British  or  Roman,  were  intermingled  with  and  lost  in 
J   the  Anglo-Saxon  population,  and  customs. 

The  Heptarchy,  or  seven  distinct  Saxon  kingdoms,  are  spok- 
en of  by  all  historians  of  England ;  but  Sharon  Turner  says 
they  ought  to 'have  been  treated  of  as  an  Octarchy,  or  eight 
kingdoms.  He  says,  that  before  500,  Hengest  in  Kent,  and 
Ella,  in  Sussex,  made  two  kingdoms.  In  519,  Cerdic,  in  Wes- 
sex,  with  Essex,  and  East  Anglia,  made  three  more ;  in  547, 
Bernicia,  in  560,  Deira,  and  in  586,  Mercia,  made  three  more, 
eight  in  all.  Bernicia  and  Deira  are  usually  considered  as 
one,  which  accounts  for  the  Heptarchy  Between  586  and  827, 
all  these  Saxon  kingdoms  were  consolidated  into  one,  under 
Egbert.  In  these  241  years  an  almost  incessant  war  existed 
in  England,  among  these  Saxon  princes.  Instead  of  narrating 
when,  where,  by  whom,  and  with  what  consequences  the  bat- 
tles were  fought  which  subjected  all  these  kingdoms  to  one 
chief,  it  will  be  much  more  instructive  to  consider  what  that 
state  of  society  was  which  forced  upon  a  people  of  the  same 
origin,  manners  and  habits,  and  who  were  connected  by  mar- 
riages and  consanguinity,  a  merciless  and  incessant  warfare. 
This  may  be  accounted  for  by  applying  to  them  some  well- 
known  principles. 

Our  Saxon  ancestry  were  obliged  to  obey  the  impulses  of 
human  nature  in  finding  some  employment  for  their  minds,  and 
their  hands.  Agriculture  afforded  but  little  employment,  and 
that  little  was  mostly  confined  to  the  servile  class.  In  that 
space  of  time  there  was  little  or  no  foreign  commerce,  few 
products  of  industry,  whether  from  the  mines,  or  from  the 
loom,  or  from  the  arts  now  familiarly  known.  The  Saxons 
had  ceased  to  be  pirates ;  they  had  no  literature,  and  though 
they  had  Christianity  among  them  it  did  not  make  them  wiser 
or  more  moral.  Then  they  had  nobles  and  princes,  who  were 
ambitious,  restless,  covetous  and  brave.  What  should  such  a 
people  do,  but  make  it  the  principal  occupation  of  life  to  con- 
quer and  despoil  each  other  ?  The  passions  and  propensities 
which,  with  well-instructed  and  moral  minds,  tend  to  elevate 
and  refine  human  nature,  were,  in  general,  perverted  and  mis- 
applied. It  must  be  admitted  of  our  Saxon  ancestry  that  they 
exhibited,  in  these  246  years,  every  variety  of  crime  that  ever 
•       appears  among  a  craving,  unrestrained,  warring  people.     Per- 


SAXONS ENGLAND.  61 

fidy,  cruelty,  and  murders  of  every  description,  besides  all  the 
horrors  of  vindictive  war,  were  of  common  occurrence.  A 
successful  aspirant  to  a  throne  often  found  it  necessary  to  his 
own  security  to  dispose,  by  force  or  fraud,  of  every  human 
being  who  couJd,  by  any  means,  disturb  him  in  his  tenure. 
There  is  nothing  new  or  surprising  in  such  a  state  of  things, 
nor  any  remedy  for  such  miseries  as  were  experienced,  but  to 
obtain  better  knowledge  of  the  purposes  of  human  life,  and 
to  find  better  employments.  The  very  qualities  which  made 
the  Saxons  so  odious  wrhen  these  were  misapplied  or  pervert- 
ed, made  them  a  people,  under  other  circumstances,  from 
whom  their  descendants  need  not  blush  to  have  sprung. 

Egbert's  reign  was  one  of  M  prosperity  seldom  rivalled." 
In  836  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Ethelwulf,  qualified,  by 
ecclesiastical  dispensation  from  monkish  vows,  to  wear  the 
crown;  for  which  he  was  little  qualified  by  nature  or  attain- 
ments. His  fourth  son,  Alfred,  was  born  in  849,  whose 
character  as  a  man  and  as  a  prince  has  illustrated  the  Saxon 
name.  From  the  powerful  influence  acquired  by  the  Roman 
church,  and  Ethelwulfs  devotion  to  it,  Alfred  was  sent,  in  his 
fifth  year,  as  one  of  an  embassy  to  the  pope.  In  his  seventh 
year,  he  went  with  his  father  to  Rome.  Splendid  gifts  were 
borne  on  this  occasion. 

Hence  it  appears  that  the  Saxon  monarch  had  the  command 
of  gold  in  abundance,  and  that  the  art  of  making  it  into  gor- 
geous ornaments  was  known  to  the  Saxons.  While  the  king 
was  absent,  one  of  his  sons  conspired  to  dethrone  him.  On 
his  return  he  consented  to  a  partition,  and,  in  two  years, 
Alfred's  brother,  Ethelwulf,  became  sole  monarch. 

Though  Alfred  had  been  twice  to  Rome,  he  had  not  learned 
to  read,  nor  could  he  read  before  his  twelfth  year.  His  moth- 
er, holding  a  book  of  Saxon  poems  in  her  hand,  promised  to 
give  it  to  that  one  of  her  sons  who  would  learn  to  read  it. 
Alfred  sought  the  aid  of  a  monk,  and  acquired  the  prize. 
From  this  time  he  was  a  diligent  student,  though  not  neglect- 
ful of  the  manly  exercises  which  qualified  him  for  the  mili- 
tary achievements  of  his  future  life. 

The  Saxons  and  others  came  to  Britain  from  the  countries 
which  now  comprise  the  kingdom  of  Denmark  and  a  part  of 
Prussia,  about  the  year  450.  They  continued  to  come  for  more 
than  a  century,  and  may  be  supposed  to  have  diminished  the 
population  of  those  countries.  If  so,  numbers  had  increased 
to  overflowing  before  800.  Near  this  time  England  was  terri- 
fied with  the  incursions  and  piracies  of  "the  Northmen" 
6 


62  SAXONS ENGLAND. 

who  appeared  along  the  coasts,  and  even  ventured  to  ascend 
rivers  far  into  the  country.  Their  object,  in  general,  was 
plunder,  and  not  the  conquest  of  territory.  They  answered 
to  the  name  now  given  to  pirates,  that  is,  "  enemies  of  the 
human  race,"  with  this  great  difference,  that  piracy  was  not 
only  an  employment,  but  it  was  honorable  and  glorious.  Their 
deeds  of  piracy  were  celebrated  by  their  scalds  (or  historians 
in  song)  as  deeds  of  glory  are  now  celebrated  in  the  conflict 
of  armies.  There  may  not  be  much  to  choose  in  the  morality 
of  the  two  cases ;  the  piratical  plunderings  of  the  Northmen 
were  the  worst  of  the  two  in  their  cruelties  and  miseries. 
These  were  inflicted  on  people  of  any  country  whom  the 
Northmen  could  approach.  The  only  way  in  which  one  can 
acquire  an  idea  of  the  manner  of  coming,  and  of  the  conse- 
quences of  coming,  is  to  suppose  thousands  of  men,  well 
armed,  skilled  in  the  use  of  arms,  brave,  cruel,  and  educated 
to  think  it  glorious  to  seize,  plunder,  kill,  lay  waste  and  de- 
stroy, to  appear  unexpectedly  on  the  shores  of  our  own  coun- 
try ;  and  to  suppose  them  to  exercise  their  power  on  all  per- 
sons and  property  before  a  competent  force  could  be  gathered 
to  resist  them,  and  as  suddenly  retiring  with  their  booty.  It 
was  their  practice  to  carry  away  as  slaves  those  whom  they 
did  not  prefer  to  kill.  Sometimes  they  came  with  force 
enough  to  take  and  hold  a  territory;  at  least  during  winter, 
while  the  seas  could  not  be  traversed  with  safety. 

At  the  end  of  the  eighth,  and  beginning  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, the  Northmen  had  appeared  in  England  repeatedly,  and 
had  been  sometimes  successful,  and  sometimes  repelled.  In 
the  year  839  an  accident  led  to  consequences  which  filled 
England  with  the  heaviest  calamities,  and  at  length  subjected 
a  large  portion  of  it  to  the  dominion  of  the  Northmen,  who 
appeared  under  the  name  of  Danes.  Ragnor  Lodbrog,  a  cele- 
brated sea-king,  whose  fame  is  preserved  by  the  scalds,  fitted 
out  two  vessels  of  extraordinary  size,  and  came  to  the  British 
coast.  His  vessels  were  wrecked ;  himself  and  a  part  of  his 
followers  gained  the  shore.  They  were  met,  defeated,  and 
Ragnor  was  taken  alive  by  the  Saxon  king  Ella,  and  thrown 
into  a  pit  which  had  been  prepared  with  venomous  serpents 
for  his  reception.  When  the  news  of  his  capture  and  death 
reached  Norway,  (from  which  country  he  came,)  his  two  sons, 
Ingwar  and  Ubbo,  prepared  themselves  to  avenge  his  fate. 
They  came  with  a  numerous  force,  in  866,  while  Ethelred  was 
the  Saxon  king,  a  brother  of  Alfred.  The  two  sons  had  the 
gratification  of  taking  the  same  Ella  alive,  who  had  destroyed 


SAXONS ENGLAND.  63 

their  father.  They  divided  his  back  and  spread  out  his  ribs, 
and  tortured  ingenuity  to  augment  his  sufferings  while  life 
remained. 

These  invaders  were  followed  by  others  from  the  same 
regions,  year  after  year,  until  a  force  was  accumulated  suffi- 
cient to  overwhelm  England,  and  before  the  end  of  that  cen- 
tury it  had  become  the  country  of  the  Danes.  It  would  be  as 
useless  as  painful,  to  recount  the  sufferings  and  miseries  of 
the  Saxons  while  the  Danes  were  subduing  them,  Imagina- 
tion may  give  itself  full  scope  without  transcending  realities. 
In  the  course  of  these  conflicts  Ethelred  was  slain  in  battle, 
which  opened  the  way  for  Alfred  to  the  throne,  and  he  became 
the  Saxon  king  in  871.  It  would  seem,  from  the  manner  of 
his  accession,  that  the  right  to  succeed  did  not  then  depend 
on  the  will  of  the  deceased  sovereign,  nor  on  lineal  descent, 
because  some  of  Alfred's  brothers  left  sons.  It  depended  on 
the  will  of  the  nobles,  by  whom  Alfred  was  placed  on  the 
throne,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Alfred's  Reign — Danes — State  of  England — Religion. 

Alfred  did  little  to  resist  the  Danes,  and  still  less  to  pro- 
mote his  own  honor,  in  the  first  seven  years  of  his  reign.  In 
these  years  he  lost  the  confidence  of  his  people,  and,  from  the 
hints  of  some  monkish  chronicler,  had  committed  some  griev- 
ous sins.  What  these  really  were,  does  not  appear.  From 
some  causes,  it  is  certain,  that  Alfred,  in  878,  fled  in  the  dis- 
guise of  a  soldier,  and  secreted  himself  as  an  obscure  individ- 
ual ;  was  often  reduced  to  extreme  distress  for  daily  food,  and 
was,  for  some  time,  sheltered  in  the  hovel  of  a  swine-herd, 
who  was  ignorant  that  he  was  the  Saxon  king.  He  was 
employed  in  the  humblest  services,  and  was  sometimes  rebuk- 
ed by  his  hostess  for  his  neglect.  In  the  course  of  this  year 
he  had  taken  up  his  abode  on  a  small  extent  of  firm  land, 
surrounded  by  morass,  near  the  conflux  of  two  small  streams, 
called  the  Perrot  and  the  Thone,  in  the  west  of  England,  near 
to  Wales.  Here  he  was  joined  by  other  fugitives,  until  a 
number  was  gathered  sufficient  to  enable  him  and  his  adher- 
ents to  venture  on  sudden  and  predatory  excursions  against 


64  SAXONS ENGXAND. 

the  Danes.  In  this  time  he  had  profited  in  the  school  of 
adversity,  and  had  recovered  the  confidence  of  some  of  his 
subjects. 

Before  the  end  of  878,  Alfred  came  forth,  disclosed  himself 
to  his  countrymen,  and  assembled  a  sufficient  force  to  enable 
him  to  contend  successfully  with  a  division  of  the  Danes,  and 
then  to  effect  a  treaty  by  which  he  secured  to  himself  a  part  of 
the  country,  and  recognized  their  right  to  that  which  they 
held.  It  then  became  the  policy  of  Alfred  to  civilize  and 
Christianize  the  Danes,  and  to  direct  their  attention  to  agri- 
culture and  peaceful  pursuits.  Some  success  followed  these 
efforts.  Within  the  next  twelve  years,  the  powerful  genius 
and  steady  efforts  of  Alfred  had  made  him  capable  of  present- 
ing a  formidable  resistance.  He  had  seen  the  necessity  of 
meeting  them  on  their  own  element,  and  had  constructed 
larger  and  better  vessels  than  they  possessed. 

A  sea-king,  named  Hastings,  had  made  himself  an  object  of 
terror  on  the  coast  of  France  and  England,  for  some  years. 
He  came  again  to  England  in  891.  Hastings  devoted  him- 
self, for  six  years,  to  the  overthrow  of  Alfred.  His  military 
genius,  and  resources,  which  that  genius  called  forth,  enabled 
Alfred  to  resist  Hastings  successfully,  and  finally  to  drive  him 
away,  about  the  year  896.  This  may  be  considered  as  the 
period  of  Alfred's  military  renown.  During  the  five  years  of 
life  that  remained  to  him,  he  established,  rather  by  his  pacific 
labors  than  military  force,  an  ascendancy,  and  at  length  an 
absolute  dominion  over  all  England,  and  was  respected  and 
honored  in  Wales,  though  that  country  was  not  subjected  to 
him.  It  is  not  as  a  victorious  warrior  that  Alfred  is  to  be 
esteemed  and  remembered,  but  as  a  sagacious  statesman  and 
as  a  potentate  who  knew  not  only  how  to  acquire  power,  but 
how  to  use  it  for  the  benefit  of  his  subjects.  He  died  the  26th 
of  October,  901,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two. 

Alfred  may  be  considered  as  one  of  the  greatest  men  that 
ever  lived.  In  the  term  great,  should  be  included  goodness, 
the  having  had,  and  the  having  used,  wisely  and  successfully, 
extraordinary  means  in  advancing  human  welfare.  Csesar  is 
called  great,  but,  setting  aside  his  mere  military  renown,  and 
considering  the  opportunities  which  he  had  to  be  useful,  Alfred 
was  eminently  his  superior.  Alfred  stands  in  the  like  relation 
to  such  men  as  Alexander,  Napoleon,  and  many  others,  who 
exercised  great  power  only  to  illustrate  themselves.  In  mili- 
tary genius,  Alfred  was  not  the  inferior  of  such  men ;  but  that 
which  distinguishes  him  from  most  of  them,  is,  that  his  great 


SAXONS — ENGLAND.  65 

talents,  his  royal  authority,  his  whole  life,  were  devoted  to  his 
country ;  and  he  seems  never  to  have  thought  of  himself  but 
as  an  instrument,  under  the  will  of  Providence,  to  save  his 
countrymen  from  slavery,  and  to  make  known  to  them  the 
true  sources  of  security  and  happiness. 

He  is  regarded  with  respect  and  gratitude  by  all  well- 
informed  Englishmen.  Sir  William  Blackstone,  in  his  Com- 
mentaries on  the  laws  of  England,  renders  a  just  tribute  to  the 
exalted  genius,  benevolence,  and  achievements  of  Alfred.  This 
commentator  considers  him  as  the  founder  of  English  liberty. 
This  is  the  liberty  which  our  ancestors  brought  to  our  own 
country,  and  which  their  descendants  have  formed  into  the 
republican  rights  which  are  now  enjoyed.  As  the  most  im- 
portant object  in  writing  history  is  to  teach,  by  showing  what 
men  have  done,  so  that  their  good  deeds  may  be  imitated,  and 
their  bad  ones  avoided,  no  time  will  have  been  misused  that  is 
given  to  a  consideration  of  the  life  and  character  of  this  illus- 
trious person.  But  to  know  under  what  circumstances  he 
lived  and  acted,  what  embarrassments  he  encountered,  and 
what  difficulties  he  surmounted,  the  condition  of  his  country 
and  of  his  subjects  must  be  considered.  This  involves  the 
inquiry,  what  were  the  objects  which  employed  the  hands  and 
engaged  the  minds  of  the  Saxons,  in  their  serious  hours,  and 
in  their  hours  of  pleasure  or  amusement. 

It  does  not  appear  that  they  had  any  foreign  commerce ; 
that  is,  they  produced  nothing  which  they  sent  abroad ;  they 
imported  no  products  of  other  countries,  unless  to  a  very  lim- 
ited extent,  and  only  some  articles  of  luxury  for  the  use  of  the 
nobles.  Their  knowledge  of  agriculture  was  limited  to  the 
supply  of  indispensable  wants.  They  had  no  learning.  The 
arts  which  they  cultivated  were  only  such  as  to  supply  them 
with  the  implements  of  husbandry,  hunting,  and  war.  They 
had  religion,  which  was  barbarous  paganism,  up  to  the  end  of 
the  sixth  century,  and  after  that  time  a  corrupted,  superstitious 
Christianity,  imported  from  Rome.  There  remain  to  such  a 
people  little  else  than  continual  warfare  among  themselves, 
(fomented  by  the  base  passions  of  petty  kings  and  jealous  and 
revengeful  nobles,)  hunting,  gaming,  and  noisy  festivals.  All 
which  shows  a  depraved  and  barbarous  state  of  society,  yet 
containing  elements,  which,  under  the  masterly  genius  of 
Alfred,  could  be  fashioned  into  qualities,  individual  and  nation- 
al, of  which  their  descendants  may  be  justly  proud. 

As  religion,  in  Alfred's  time,  had  become  an  important  and 
engrossing  object  of  attention,  it  must  be  shown  whence  it 
6* 


66  SAXONS ENGLAND. 

came.  There  was  a  person  at  Rome,  whose  name  was  Mau- 
rice. He  was  of  noble  descent,  and  inherited  great  wealth. 
At  about  the  age  of  thirty  he  devoted  himself  to  the  church, 
and  employed  his  riches  in  building  seven  monasteries.  As 
he  was  passing  through  the  slave  market,  he  saw  some  youths 
there  exposed  for  sale,  whose  light  complexions,  blue  eyes, 
flaxen  hair,  and  striking  comeliness,  arrested  his  attention. 
He  inquired  who  they  were  and  whence  they  came,  and  was 
informed  that  they  were  pagans  from  England.  He  conceiv- 
ed the  project,  on  the  spot,  of  converting  the  Saxons  to  Chris- 
tianity, and  intended  to  go  himself  to  effect  his  purpose.  This, 
however,  he  was  prevented  from  doing ;  but  when  he  was 
raised  to  the  papal  throne  in  590,  (in  which  station  he  acquired 
the  name  of  Gregory  the  Great,)  it  was  among  his  first  ob- 
jects to  send  Saint  Austin,  (or  Augustin,)  with  several  monks, 
to  England.  These  missionaries  appeared  first  in  Kent, 
where  Ethelred  was  king.  It  was  a  favorable  circumstance 
that  his  Q,ueen,  who  was  a  Frankish  (French)  princess,  was 
a  Christian.  They  were  kindly  received ;  a  place  of  abode 
and  subsistence  were  assigned  to  them.  They  so  conducted 
themselves  as  to  attract  very  general  respect  and  esteem ;  and 
by  their  exemplary  and  gentle  deportment  and  judicious  adap- 
tation of  their  teachings  to  the  long-rooted  prejudices  of  the 
Saxons,  their  converts  increased,  and  Christianity  made  a  rapid 
progress.  In  some  instances  the  Saxon  kings,  their  nobles, 
and  pagan  priests  assembled  to  hear  the  missionaries  and  to 
discuss  the  reasonableness  of  the  faith  which  they  taught.  In 
a  few  years  Christianity  became  the  prevailing  religion 
throughout  England. 

Though  this  great  change  was  followed  by  most  important 
consequences  as  well  among  the  people  as  among  rulers,  yet 
it  was  a  corrupted,  monkish  form  of  religion,  which  the  Sax- 
ons received,  and  not  the  simple  apostolic  faith  and  practice 
which  preceded  the  corruptions  of  the  Roman  church.  It 
would  not  be  worth  the  labor  to  detail  the  succession  of  events 
by  which  the  popes  of  Rome  established  their  power  in  Eng- 
land, as  they  did  every  where  else,  in  those  days,  where  Chris- 
tianity was  professed.  In  the  course  of  the  first  hundred 
years  after  Saint  Austin's  appearance,  monasteries,  abbeys, 
churches,  prelates  and  monks,  were  as  common  here  as  in  all 
other  countries  which  acknowledged  the  papal  authority. 
Kings,  princes,  nobles,  here,  as  in  other  countries,  sometimes 
resigned  the  world  to  lead  a  holy  life,  and  gave  their  worldly 
possessions  to  enrich  the  religious  establishments.  Thus  Ina, 
a  very  respectable  man,  and  a  useful  king,  several  years  in 


SAXONS ENGLAND.  67 

Wessex,  (afterwards  Alfred's)  resigned  his  crown  in  721,  and 
went  to  Rome.  He  there  founded  a  Saxon  school  and  church  ; 
these  he  had  provided  for,  before  he  gave  up  his  power,  by  im- 
posing a  tax  on  every  family,  in  his  dominions.  But,  notwith- 
standing this  show  of  religion,  there  is  no  part  of  the  Saxon 
annals  which  is  more  disgraced  by  violence  and  crime  among 
the  princes  and  nobles,  than  those  which  occurred  in  the 
eighth  century.  Yet,  among  individuals,  no  doubt  the  effects  of 
Christianity  (even  such  as  it  was)  were  beneficial  among  the 
great  mass  of  persons.  The  priests  may  have  had  some  valua- 
ble influence  in  the  royal  courts.  Being  the  only  persons  who 
could  read  or  write,  their  services  were  often  indispensable.  In 
the  summary  notice,  hereafter  to  be  made,  of  the  progress  of  the 
papal  authority  of  Rome,  there  will  be  occasion  to  recur  to 
Gregory  the  Great,  whose  acts,  though  he  died  in  604,  are  still 
felt  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Alfred's  Labors — His  own  Acquirements — His    Government — Its  effects  on 
his  Subjects — The  Difficulties  he  encountered — His  Death. 

Having  endeavored  to  present  a  condensed  view  of  the  state 
of  England,  when  Alfred  came  to  the  throne,  it  is  next  to  be 
shown,  what  this  eminent  man  did  for  the  benefit  of  his  coun- 
trymen. His  indefatigable  exertions  and  success,  will  be  re- 
garded with  admiration,  when  it  is  considered  that  he  reigned 
but  thirty  years,  that  eight  of  them  were  of  little  use  to  his 
country,  and  that  he  was  afflicted,  throughout  his  manhood, 
with  some  unknown,  incurable,  and  painful  disease,  which  Tur- 
ner conjectures  to  have  been  an  internal  cancer.  This  writer 
says,  (vol.  1,  page  331,)  "  At  the  age  of  twenty  a  disease  oc- 
curred of  the  most  tormenting  nature.  It  attacked  him  before 
all  the  people  suddenly  with  an  immense  pain,  and  never  left 
him.  Its  seat  was  internal,  invisible,  but  the  affliction  it  caus- 
ed was  incessant.  Such  was  the  dreadful  agony,  that  if  for 
one  short  hour  it  happened  to  intermit,  the  dread  and  horror  of 
its  inevitable  return  poisoned  the  little  interval  of  ease.  The 
skill  of  his  Saxon  physicians  was  unable  to  detect  its  nature 
or  alleviate  his  pain.  Alfred  had  to  endure  it  unrelieved." 
What  an  individual  thus  affected  was  able  to  do  in  the  course 
of  about  twenty  years,  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  occur 


68  SAXONS ENGLAND. 

rences  in  the  history  of  men.  In  modern  days,  the  greatest 
men,  who  happen  to  sustain  public  relations,  can  command  the 
aid  of  exalted  talents  in  all  the  departments  of  duty ;  and  with 
such  aids,  even  women  and  infants  sometimes  nominally  man- 
age empires.  But  Alfred  stood  alone ;  there  was  not  a  man  in 
all  his  realm  with  whom  he  could  compare  opinions,  nor  one 
who  could  help  him  to  a  thought. 

When  he  was  sufficiently  instructed  he  became  a  writer.  Some 
of  his  works  are  now  extant.  In  one  of  them  he  says, — "  Very 
few  were  they  on  this  side  the  Humber  (the  most  improved  parts 
of  England)  who  could  understand  their  daily  prayers  inEng- 
ligh,  (their  prayers  were  in  Latin,)  or  translate  any  letter  from 
the  Latin.  I  think  there  were  not  many  beyond  the  Humber ; 
they  were  so  few  that  I  cannot  recollect  one  single  instance  on 
the  south  of  the  Thames,  when  I  took  the  kingdom."  His 
personal  friend  and  biographer,  Asser,  says, — "  What  of  all  his 
troubles  and  difficulties,  he  affirmed,  with  frequent  complaint 
and  deep  lamentations  of  his  heart  to  have  been  the  greatest, 
was,  that  when  he  had  the  age,  permission,  and  ability  to  learn, 
hecould  find  no  masters."  In  this  distress  he  sought  instruc- 
ted, but  found  none  who  were  not  ecclesiastics,  and  whose 
learning  was  confined  to  the  church.  His  first  acquisition  was 
Werfrith,  skilled  in  the  scriptures;  then  Plegmund,  a  wise  and 
venerable  priest ;  and  two  others  of  the  like  order.  These  he 
called  to  his  court,  and  they  were,  in  every  leisure  moment, 
employed  in  reading  translations,  and  in  teaching  their  royal 
pupil.  The  more  he  thus  acquired,  the  greater  was  hjs  thirst 
for  greater  acquisition.  He  obtained  Grimbald,  a  learned  priest 
from  France;  Johannes  Eregina,  (called  John  the  Irishman,) 
from  Ireland,  an  accomplished  scholar,  for  that  day ;  #  and 
Menevensis  Asser,  (or  Asserius,)  a  learned  Welshman.  As- 
ser became  the  intimate  friend,  daily  companion,  and  sincere 
admirer  of  his  patron,  and,  at  last,  his  biographer.  It  is  from 
Asser's  minute  accounts,  that  Alfred's  merits  are  now  so  well 
known.  From  Asser  it  is  known  that,  in  887,  when  Alfred 
was  38,  he  had  the  inexpressible  delight  of  being  able  to  read 
the  Latin  language,  in  which,  only,  learning  was  then  to  be  had. 
Alfred  then  became  a  diligent  writer  and  translator. 

What  he  did  to  instruct  his  subjects.  In  one  of  his  letters 
to  one  of  his  bishops,  he  says, — "  I  think  it  better,  if  you  think 
so,  that  we  also  translate  some  books,  the  most  necessary  for 
all   men   to  know,  into  our. own  language,  that  all  may  be 

*  Moore,  in  his  history  of  Ireland,  says,  that  John  the  priest,  who  was 
in  the  service  of  Alfred,  was  not  the  famous  Eregina. 


SAXONS ENGLAND.  69 

acquainted  with  them  ;  and  we  may  do  this,  with  God's  help, 
very  easy,  if  we  have  stillness  ;  so  that  all  the  youth  that  now 
are  in  England,  who  are  freemen,  and  have  wealth  so  that  they 
may  fill  themselves,  be  committed  to  learning,  so  that  they  may 
apply  to  no  other  duty,  till  they  first  well  know  how  to  read 
English  writing.  Let  them  learn  further  the  Latin  language ; 
they  who  will  may  further  learn,  and  will  advance  to  a  higher 
state."  Elsewhere,  he  says,  "  Then  began  I,  among  much  oth- 
er manifold  business  of  this  kingdom,  to  turn  into  English  the 
book  named  Pastoralis,  or  the  Herdsman's  book,  sometimes 
word  for  word,  sometimes  sense  for  sense,  so  as  I  had  learned 
from  Plegmund,  my  archbishop,  of  Asser,  my  bishop,  of  Grim- 
bald,  my  mass  priest,  and  of  John,  my  mass  priest."  Besides 
this,  it  is  known  that  Alfred  translated  the  works  of  Drosius, 
of  Bede,  of  Boethius,  and  the  curious  work  of  Gregory  the 
Great,  called  Pastorals,  wherein  this  pope  prescribes  to  prelates 
their  official  duties.  There  was  also  a  manual  or  memoran- 
dum book  of  Alfred's,  which  existed  in  1 143,  because  it  is  quot- 
ed by  William,  of  Malmsbury,  a  historian  who  died  in  that 
year,  and  who  mentions  it  as  known  to  him.  This  is  a  loss, 
it  is  said,  much  to  be  regretted ;  there  is  not  a  remnant  of  it. 
Architecture,  ship-building,  and  workmanship  in  gold,  were 
among  the  special  objects  of  Alfred's  attention. 

Political  and  social  objects.  He  established  schools,  pro- 
vided masters,  and  had  his  own  son  educated  among  the  common 
pupils,  by  way  of  example.  He  compelled  his  nobles  to  build 
castles  to  protect  them  against  the  Northmen.  He  was  inflex- 
ible in  exacting  from  all  public  officers  a  competent  knowledge 
to  perform  their  duties.  Earls,  governors  and  ministers,  who 
had  been  illiterate  from  infancy,  were  required  to  learn  to  read, 
and  write,  or  to  lose  their  employments.  He  was  severe  in  the 
administration  of  justice.  There  was  an  appeal  to  him  in  per- 
son, and  he  patiently  heard  and  decided  trials  himself,  especial- 
ly of  the  inferior  classes.  The  anglo  Saxons  undoubtedly  had 
juries  in  Alfred's  time,  though  it  has  been  said  they  were  not 
known  till  150  years  afterwards.  Whether  they  were  institut- 
ed by  Alfred  or  not,  is  questionable.  However  this  may  be, 
an  ancient  lawbook, called  the  mirror,  shows  that  Alfred  was 
assiduous  in  protecting  the  rights  of  juries  ;  for  it  is  therein 
said, — "He  hanged  Cadwine,  (a  judge,)  because  he  condemned 
Hachary  without  the  assent  of  all  the  jurors.  He  hanged  Tre- 
berne,  because  he  adjudged  Harpin  to  death,  when  the  jurors 
were  in  doubt  about  their  verdict. 

To  Alfred,  England  is  indebted  for  the  well  know  division 


70  SAXONS ENGLAND. 

of  territory  into  counties.  It  is  believed  that  this  division  does 
not  exist  in  any  country  but  the  British  Isles,  and  in  countries 
settled  by  emigrants  from  them.  Our  English  ancestry  made 
this  division  of  our  own  country  at  an  early  period.  It  was 
suggested  to  Alfred  as  a  remedy  for  existing  evils.  England 
had  been  broken  up  into  small  belligerent  kingdoms.  The  in- 
vasions of  the  Northmen,  and  domestic  contentions,  had  intro- 
duced disorder  and  confusion.  It  required  such  power  and 
such  ability  as  Alfred  had,  to  find  an  effectual  remedy.  First, 
he  divided  his  whole  kingdom  into  convenient  districts,  nearly 
such  as  they  are  at  the  present  day.  These  had  their  name 
from  being  put  under  the  government  of  a  count  or  earl;  the 
latter  word  means  an  elder  or  chief;  the  former,  count,  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  a  term  used  to  signify  a  companion  of  the 
king,  and  was  borrowed  from  the  Franks.  Besides  the  count, 
there  were  divers  other  civil  officers,  from  which  these  county 
officers,  now  known,  arose.  Then,  counties  were  subdivided 
into  hundreds  of  families,  which  distinction  is  still  known  in 
England ;  and  hundreds  were  divided  into  tens  of  families,  or 
tithings,  (tenths.)  Every  subject  was  compelled  to  belong  to 
some  tithing.  The  inhabitants  of  each  tithing  were  responsi- 
ble for  the  conduct  of  every  member  of  their  division.  Every 
hundred  was  made  responsible  for  each  breach  of  public  law  ; 
they  were  compelled  to  produce  the  offender,  or  to  bear  the 
fine  or  compensation  which  the  offender,  if  known,  would  be 
liable  for.  Thus,  Alfred  made  it  necessary  for  each  tithing  to 
know  who  came  within  their  territories,  and  to  guard  them- 
selves against  the  injuries  which  vagrants  and  criminals  might 
occasion.  Every  one  who  could  not  show  that  he  belonged 
to  some  tithing,  became  an  outlaw,  and  could  find  no  rest- 
ing-place. This  police  became  so  perfect,  that  crimes  almost 
ceased.  Turner  says  (vol.  i.  327)  that  "  Golden  bracelets  were 
hung  up  in  the  roads,  and  were  not  stolen."  Such  severity  may 
have  been  indispensable  in  Alfred's  time.  In  these  days,  com- 
mercial business  and  the  voluntary  movements  of  individuals, 
would  make  such  restrictions  on  personal  liberty,  intolerable. 

One  consequence  of  these  measures  of  Alfred's  was  highly 
beneficial,  and  may  or  may  not  have  been  intended  by  him.  The 
members  of  each  tithing  were  compelled  occasionally  to  meet, 
and  confer  on  their  common  interests,  and  thus  to  cultivate  an 
acquaintance  and  fellowship.  The  chief  men  of  the  hundreds 
were  required  to  meet  at  stated  periods,  to  consult  on  the  com- 
mon good  ;  and  thence  arose  the  still  greater,  though  less  fre- 
quent meetings  of  the  chief  men  of  the  counties.     From  these 


SAXONS ENGLAND.  71 

meetings  may  have  sprung  the  national  meetings  now  known 
under  the  name  of  parliaments.  Similar  meetings  exist  in  our 
own  country.  Instead  of  tithings  and  hundreds  throughout 
New  England,  there  are  towns.  These  were  probably  thought 
of  by  the  first  settlers,  in  imitation  of  what  are  called  boroughs 
in  England,  which  are  certain  portions  of  territory,  within 
which  persons  had  acquired,  from  immemorial  usage,  certain 
rights  and  privileges,  and  especially  those  of  governing  them- 
selves as  a  kind  of  corporations,  and  as  having  certain  rights 
of  representation.  If  the  dust  of  nine  hundred  years  could  be 
swept  off,  most  of  these  institutions  could  be  traced,  probably, 
to  the  illustrious  Alfred. 

The  comparatively  accurate  knowledge  which  has  been 
transmitted  of  this  truly  great  man,  authorizes  the  declaration, 
that  from  the  time  when  he  emerged  from  obscurity,  and  re-as- 
cended the  throne,  his  private  life  and  individual  virtues,  and 
honorable  example,  make  him  no  less  worthy  of  veneration  than 
do  his  public  labors.  He  is  represented  to  have  been  the  most 
exact  economist  of  time ;  gentle  yet  firm,  modest  but  undaunted; 
pious,  charitable,  munificent;  exemplary  as  a  husband,  and  as 
a  father.  It  may  be  truly  said  that  he  lived  for  every  body  but 
himself,  but  in  so  living  he  had  lived  best  for  himself,  in  the 
respect  and  gratitude  of  all  ages  which  speak  the  language  of 
Alfred. 

The  person  of  Alfred  has  not  been  described.  His  habits, 
purposes,  and  modes  of  life  may  be  inferred  from  the  writings 
of  his  mass  priest,  Asser.  His  whole  reign,  after  his  restora- 
tion, appears  to  have  been  most  assiduously  devoted  to  improv- 
ing himself,  that  he  might  be  the  better  qualified  to  instruct 
and  improve  his  countrymen.  Whatever  his  malady  may 
have  been,  it  prevented  neither  the  action  of  his  mind  or  body. 
He  excelled  in  all  the  manly  exercises  of  his  time,  and  espe- 
cially in  athletic  hunting.  Though  he  used  a  kingly  authority 
with  the  independence  of  a  king,  it  is  no  where  said  of  him 
that  it  was  unduly  used.  It  was  with  him  a  principle,  so  rare 
among  all  whom  birth  or  accident  has  raised  to  the  dignity  o( 
a  crown,  that  every  Saxon1  s  thoughts  should  be  as  free  as  the 
winds.  In  the  whole  range  of  history  his  superior  is  not  to  be 
found,  in  the  qualities  of  an  able,  indefatigable,  patriotic  king, 
adorned  with  all  the  excellences  of  an  amiable,  upright  and 
virtuous  man.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  British  navy ;  the 
benefactor  if  not  the  founder  of  the  university  of  Oxford.  But 
that  which  gives  him  a  rank  before  all  other  kings,  is,  that  he 
conceived  and  executed  the  design  of  bringing  into  action  the 


72  SAXONS ENGLAND. 

intellectual  and  moral  capacities  of  his  people,  not  only  by  pre- 
cepts, but  by  unsparing  efforts  and  example.  He  not  only  dis- 
closed what  should  be  done,  but  how  it  should  be  done. 

The  difficulties  which  he  had  to  contend  with  cannot  be  com- 
prehended, unless  one  could  know  the  difference  between  the 
condition  of  human  life,  in  his  time,  and  at  the  present  day. 
For  example,  there  are  very  few  now  who  are  at  a  loss  to  know, 
by  some  artirlcal  means,  what  the  lapse  of  time  is,  or  when  one 
hour  is  gone  and  another  is  begun.  Alfred  had  no  such  means 
of  measuring  time,  and  was  compelled  to  invent  one  for  him- 
self. When  the  sun  casts  no  shadow,  and  when  night  per- 
mits no  distinction,  perceptible  by  the  senses,  between  its  first 
coming,  and  its  end,  there  is  no  natural  measure  of  time.  Al- 
fred caused  six  wax  candles  to  be  prepared,  of  equal  length, 
(12  inches,)  which  required  one  sixth  of  the  space,  of  twenty- 
four  hours  for  each  one  to  be  consumed.  If  one  was  lighted, 
and  when  that  ended  another,  one  of  them  would  burn  240 
minutes,  and  each  inch  would  be  consumed  in  20  minutes.  To 
prevent  the  waste  by  the  action  of  the  wind,  he  provided  a 
guard  of  thin  transparent  horn. 

It  is  thought  that  the  ancients  before  the  Christian  era,  had 
only  dials,  and  sand-glasses,  and  clepsydra,  (from  two  Greek 
words  signifying  I  steal — and  water,  or  the  stealing  away  or 
dropping  of  water,)  which  last  mode  of  measuring  time  Caesar 
is  said  to  have  introduced  into  Britain ;  yet  this  does  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  known  to  Alfred,  in  the  same  island,  nine 
hundred  years  afterwards.  [The  Saracens  (Arabians)  are  be- 
lieved to  be  the  inventors  of  some  improved  kind  of  chronom- 
eters. Charlemagne  had,  in  809,  a  present  from  some  chief  of 
this  people,  of  a  chronometer,  of  curious  workmanship;  but  it 
must  have  been  some  centuries  after  this  time,  before  the  ap- 
plication of  a  weight  to  wheels  to  measure  time,  and  the  use  of 
the  pendulum  were  known ;  and  the  application  of  the  spring, 
as  in  the  common  watch,  is  less  than  290  years  old.] 

His  exhortation  to  his  son  and  successor,  Edward,  was  wor- 
thy of  the  man,  and  the  sovereign  : 

"  My  son,  set  thou  now  beside  me,  and  I  will  deliver  thee 
true  instructions.  I  feel  that  my  hour  is  coming.  My  counte- 
nance is  wan — my  days  are  almost  done — I  shall  go  to  another 
world ;  and  thou  shall  be  left  alone  in  all  my  wealth.  I  pray 
thee,  strive  to  be  a  father  and  a  lord  to  thy  people.  Be  thou  the 
children's  father,  and  the  widow's  friend.  Comfort  thou  the 
poor,  and  shelter  the  weak ;  and  with  all  thy  might,  right  that 
which  is  wrong.     And,  son,  govern  thyself  by  law ;  then  shall 


SAXON    CHARACTER.  73 

the  Lord  love  thee,  and  God,  above  all  things,  shall  be  thy 
reward.  Call  thou  upon  him  to  advise  thee  in  all  thy  need, 
and  so  shall  he  help  thee  the  better  to  compass  that  which 
thou  wouldst." 


CHAPTER   XII. 

Social  and  Political  Condition  of  the  Saxons  after  Alfred's  Death — 
Saxon  Language. 

In  Alfred's  time  the  Saxon  people  were,  as  they  long  had 
been,  thus  classed ;  the  king,  princes,  nobles,  ecclesiastics  of 
all  grades,  free  men,  freed  men,  and  slaves,  who  were  such 
from  birth,  and  who  were  sold  or  disposed  of  by  will,  like 
cattle.  The  proportions  of  the  different  classes  cannot  be  as- 
certained. Females  were  not  excluded  from  the  society  of  the 
other  sex,  as  in  the  east,  nor  did  such  custom  exist  among  any 
of  the  northern  nations.  They  were  at  liberty  to  move  abroad, 
as  is  customary  among  their  descendants,  and  they  met 
their  husbands,  brothers,  sons,  and  guests  at  the  same  table. 
The  princes,  nobles,  and  wealthy,  of  both  sexes,  wore  orna- 
ments of  gold,  and  were  proud  of  personal  decoration.  All 
the  males,  at  an  early  age,  were  trained  to  hunting  and  to 
arms,  except  those  who  were  held  to  servile  labor.  As  they 
had  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  abundance  of  swine,  which  lived  in 
the  Woods,  and  fish,  among  which  eels  make  a  prominent 
article,  and  also  wheat  and  barley,  they  fared  well.  Drinks  of 
various  kinds  were  prepared  from  honey;  mead  was  the 
drink  of  luxury,  but  wine  and  cider  are  spoken  of;  what 
kind  of  wine,  and  whence  it  came,  does  not  appear,  as  none 
was  made  in  England.  Their  places  of  abode  were  rude  and 
inconvenient,  their  furniture  simple  and  heavy.  Some  of  their 
interior  apartments  were  adorned  with  hangings  against  the 
walls,  part  of  which  were  ornamented  with  needle-work. 
Silk  is  said  to  have  been  in  use,  which  is  remarkable,  as  silk 
was  a  rare  and  precious  article  of  commerce,  and  came  from 
China,  either  in  caravans  over  land,  or  by  a  tedious  voyage 
from  India  to  the  Red  Sea,  and  thence  through  Egypt.  The 
origin  of  the  culture  of  silk  in  Europe  dates  from  the  year 
536,  in  Justinian's  time.  The  complicated  process  of  making 
silk  was  much  above  the  attainments  of  Europeans  in  Alfred's 
time.  It  was  not  attempted,  even  in  Sicily  and  Italy,  until 
7 


74 


SAXON    CHARACTER. 


about  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  later.  The  Saxons  had 
not  glass,  but  used  horns  to  drink  out  of,  some  of  which  were 
highly  ornamented. 

Gold  seems  to  have  been  abundant,  and  they  had  some  gems, 
which  articles  they  knew  how  to  work  into  vessels  and  orna- 
ments. There  could  not  have  been  much  foreign  commerce 
while  piracy  was  the  business  of  the  Northmen.  But  there  was 
some  foreign  commerce,  for  London  is  mentioned  as  a  place 
which  ships  frequented,  in  the  seventh  century.  Several  places 
are  mentioned  in  which  payments,  resembling  modern  commer- 
cial duties,  were  exacted.  Whether  their  gold  and  luxuries  were 
thus  introduced  is  uncertain.  Coins  of  various  denominations 
existed  among  them,  which  shows,  at  least,  a  beginning  of 
commerce.  They  had  various  mechanical  arts.  Implements 
of  husbandry  and  of  hunting,  and  swords,  spears,  helmets, 
and  shields,  were  of  their  own  manufacture.  The  manufac- 
turer in  iron  was  held  in  high  esteem. 

It  is  to  be  inferred,  that  such  a  people,  who  were  not  com- 
pelled to  labor  for  daily  subsistence,  and  whose  food  came 
mostly  from  the  hands  of  slaves,  must  have  found  occupation. 
War,  hunting,  gaming,  festivals,  contentions,  must  have  essen- 
tially contributed  to  supply  this  demand.  At  their  feasts, 
harpers  attended,  and  it  was  common  to  send  round  the  harp, 
that  each  one  might  show  his  skill.  Their  songs  were  narra- 
tive, and  commendatory  of  heroic  deeds,  so  far  as  can  be 
judged  from  the  fragments  which  are  preserved.  It  is  dis- 
cernible that  here  were  materials  for  the  forming  a  fine  race 
of  human  beings,  and  that  the  means  of  social  and  intellectual 
advancement  needed  onJy  to  be  allowed  a  free  and  natural 
action.  But  their  monkish  Christianity  and  their  slavish  su- 
perstition were,  and  long  continued  to  be,  serious  obstacles. 
Yet  it  is  probable  they  were  indebted  to  Christianity  and  to 
their  intercourse  with  Rome,  for  some  advances  from  barba- 
rism.    Their  luxuries  may  have  been  thence  derived. 

There  was  a  custom  among  the  Saxons,  which,  so  far  as  is 
known,  was  peculiar  to  them.  They  formed  fraternities,  clubs, 
or  guilds,  as  they  were  called.  The  members  contributed  to  a 
common  fund,  and  that  fund  was  used  for  charitable  purposes 
among  themselves,  and  the  families  of  such  as  deceased. 
Guild  Hall,  in  London,  of  the  present  day,  may  have  had 
such  origin.  England  is  remarkable  at  the  present  time  for 
such  associations.  In  some  instances  they  seem  to  have  had 
a  connexion  with  religious  observances,  and  mass  priests  were 
connected  with  them.     The  general  object  appears  to  have 


SAXON    CHARACTER.  75 

been  a  friendly  union  for  mutual  aid  and  contribution ;  and  to 
meet  the  payments  which  were  continually  required  for  fines, 
legal  exactions,  burials,  compensations,  &c.  All  which  tends 
rather  to  show  a  state  of  severe  political  policy  and  of  clerical 
impositions ;  and  to  show  that  these  associations  arose  from 
the  vices  of  a  rude  society,  and  not  from  the  desire  to  make 
the  most  of  a  refined  and  orderly  one. 

It  is  not  a  reproach  to  the  Saxons  that  they  were  an  exceed- 
ingly superstitious  people,  for  this  is  common  to  all  people  in 
all  ages,  in  proportion  to  their  ignorance  of  the  laws  of  the 
natural  world.  Sound  knowledge  and  degrading  superstition 
are  no  where  found  together.  Among  an  ignorant  people,  the 
daily  occurrences,  whether  in  the  ordinary  action  of  the  ele- 
ments, or  in  the  incidents  affecting  the  person,  are  attributed  to 
the  agency  of  some  unseen  and  malignant  influence.  Super- 
stitious notions  arise,  and  are  passed  down,  from  generation  to 
generation,  and  grow  venerable  from  their  antiquity.  Even 
in  the  best  informed  nations  of  the  present  day,  remnants  of 
these  proofs  of  ignorance  are  still  discerned.  The  Saxons  had 
lucky  and  unlucky  days,  charms,  ominous  dreams,  fearful 
apprehensions  from  the  occurrence  of  thunder,  and  from  uncom- 
mon appearances  of  the  sun  and  moon.  They  were  believers  in 
the  powers  which  pass  under  the  name  of  witchcraft,  (a  word 
of  Saxon  origin,)  and  in  that  of  letting  loose  tempests  ;  and 
also  believed  that  if  one  could  be  made  to  take  certain  sub- 
stances into  the  stomach,  he  could  be  made  to  hate  and  love 
according  to  the  will  of  the  party  by  whom  they  were  secretly 
administered.  So,  also,  they  carried  about  their  persons  some 
holy  relic  or  some  charm,  which  would  keep  off  evil  spirits 
or  resist  the  approach  of  disease.  Such  weaknesses  and 
proofs  of  ignorance  were  common  among  the  Northmen,  and 
still  are  among  ignorant  Africans,  and  among  the  natives  of 
the  American  woods. 

The  ancient  Saxon  tenure  was  not  the  feudal  tenure,  though 
bearing  a  strong  similitude.  All  the  lands  of  England,  how- 
ever title  may  have  been  originally  derived,  were  subjected  to 
furnishing  a  proportion  of  men  for  the  service  of  the  king  in 
warfare.  Even  grants  of  land  to  monasteries  were  commonly 
subject  to  this  right  to  service.  Sometimes  this  service  could 
be  avoided  by  the  payment  of  money.  Lands  were  also  sub- 
jected to  the  burthen  of  repairing  bridges,  fortresses,  and  walls, 
and  especially  to  the  building  of  castles  ;  and,  on  non-perform- 
ance, were  liable  to  forfeiture.  There  is  an  endless  variety  of 
conditions  and  exemptions  in  grants ;  and  it  seems  as  though 


76  SAXON    CHARACTER. 

a  large  proportion  of  the  English  territory  was  held  (even 
before  feudal  days)  by  the  king,  princes,  nobles,  and  church- 
men, and  that  the  grants  proceeded  from  them.  These 
grants  were  of  the  whole  right,  or,  in  law-language,  fee 
simple,  or  freehold  for  life,  or  for  term  of  years,  with 
various  conditions.  Their  tenures,  therefore,  resemble  those 
of  England  as  now  existing,  freed  from  feudal  burthens, 
as  our  own  resemble  those  of  England.  Lands  passed  under 
the  name  of  hides ;  one  hide  equal  to  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  or  so  much  as  one  plough  could  work  during  a  year. 

There  were  courts  of  law  of  various  descriptions,  which  it 
would  be  useless  to  name.  Out  of  the  county  meetings,  in 
which  the  affairs  of  the  hundreds  were  discussed,  probably 
arose  courts  of  sessions.  The  great  power  of  the  kingdom 
resided  in  the  national  council,  called  Witena-gemot.  This 
was  composed  of  the  nobles,  high  prelates,  and  great  land- 
holders. Anciently,  the  Saxons  elected  their  kings  only  dur- 
ing a  war.  But  it  appears,  that,  in  the  eighth  century,  and 
perhaps  earlier,  the  royal  authority  continued  after  the  war 
had  ended,  and  until  the  king's  death.  The  successor  (the 
cyning,  king)  was  chosen  by  the  Witena-gemot.  Edgar  was 
chosen  by  the  "  priests  and  elders,"  who  were  this  national 
council ;  they  are  also  spoken  of  as  "  the  chiefs  of  the  Eng- 
lish." This  council  is  now  seen  in  the  Parliament  of  Eng- 
land. The  riches  and  prerogatives  of  the  Saxon  monarch 
were  very  great.  They  were  composed  of  the  acquisition  of 
eight  (not  seven)  distinct  monarchies,  for  Alfred  succeeded  to 
the  rights  and  emoluments  which  belonged  to  all  the  Saxon 
kingdoms,  which  included  all  England  except  so  much  as  he 
permitted  the  Danes  to  hold  in  Northumbria  and  East  Anglia. 
Alfred  had  lands  all  over  the  kingdom  as  his  own  property, 
and  many  royal  residences ;  and,  among  others,  Windeshore, 
which  is  now  Windsor,  and  rather  the  king's  home  than  his 
palace  in  London.  The  king's  revenues  were  from  these 
lands  and  various  other  sources.  His  military  power  was 
rather  the  authority  to  exact  service  of  a  militia,  than  the 
command  of  a  standing  army. 

It  would  extend  these  notices  of  the  Saxons  beyond  pre- 
scribed limits,  if  their  penal  code  were  detailed.  There  may 
be  seen  in  it,  that  it  was  derived  from  the  Northmen,  whose 
custom  it  was,  in  common  with  the  ancient  Germans,  to  pun- 
ish murder  and  all  inferior  crimes  by  imposing  a  fine  (in 
money)  on  the  offender,  which  went,  in  the  case  of  murder,  to 
his  family  connexions  or  some  one  of  the  number ;  and  also  a 


SAXON    CHARACTER.  *  77 

fine  to  the  king,  or  some  chief,  as  the  case  might  be.  Besides 
this,  there  were  offences  which  were  punishable  with  death, 
and  sometimes  by  cutting  off  the  hand.  Certain  kinds  of  theft 
were  so  punished.  It  is  curious  that  the  law  of  England  at 
this  day,  that  no  one  shall  lose  his  life  for  stealing  only  twelve 
pence,  was  the  law  in  Alfred's  time.  There  were  certain 
offences  against  domestic  rights,  which  the  Saxons,  like  the 
ancient  Germans,  punished  with  the  utmost  severity,  but  which 
are  now  only  ecclesiastical  or  civil  offences ;  and  which,  in 
some  countries,  where  German  rules  once  prevailed,  have  long 
ceased  to  be  an  offence  against  any  law. 

The  ordeal  was  brought  by  the  Saxons  from  the  north.  It 
has  been  supposed  by  some  to  be  an  absurdity  which  arose 
from  the  corruptions  of  the  church  ;  but  it  undoubtedly  was  a 
Gothic  practice,  and  was  easily  incorporated  among  the  cere- 
monies of  the  ecclesiastics.  One  test  of  the  guilt  or  innocence 
of  the  accused,  was  to  plunge  his  naked  hand  and  arm  into  a 
vessel  containing  boiling  hot  water,  with  a  stone  at  the  bottom 
of  it.  He  was  then  to  snatch  the  stone  out,  and  carry  it  nine 
feet  and  drop  it.  His  hand  and  arm  were  immediately  bound 
up  and  kept  so  for  three  days.  At  the  end  of  that  time  they 
were  examined,  and  the  priests  could  tell,  from  their  appear- 
ance, whether  they  showed  the  marks  of  innocence  or  guilt. 
Another  form  was  to  carry  a  red-hot  iron  nine  feet,  in  the 
naked  hand,  and  the  same  measures  were  taken  to  ascertain 
the  truth  as  in  the  case  of  hot  water.  Another  form  was  for 
the  accused  to  wralk,  with  a  bandage  over  his  eyes,  with  naked 
feet,  among  red  hot  ploughshares.  The  theory  was,  that  God 
would  work  a  miracle  in  every  case,  to  prove  the  innocence  of 
one  who  so  appealed  to  him.  If  the  miracle  wras  not  wrought, 
the  offender  was  subjected  to  punishment,  as  in  case  of  con- 
viction on  any  other  form  of  trial.  It  is  obvious  that  this 
absurd  mode  of  trial  threw  an  extraordinary  power  into  the 
hands  of  the  priests,  by  whom  it  was  always  conducted  with 
solemn  religious  ceremonies. 

These  ordeals,  or  judgments  of  God,  have  prevailed  in 
many  countries  and  nations,  and  were,  perhaps,  brought  from 
the  east.  It  is  said  they  do  exist,  or  have  existed  in  Hindos- 
tan.  They  have  had  a  variety  of  forms,  and  when  they  were 
borrowed  by  the  ecclesiastics,  they  assumed  new  forms. 
Among  others,  the  touching  of  relics  and  placing  the  sacred 
bread  between  the  lips.  From  the  same  source  came  the 
casting  of  witches  into  water,  and  the  requiring  of  a  suspected 
person  to  touch  the  body  of  one  who  had  been  murdered. 
7* 


78 


SAXON    LANGUAGE. 


Also,  the  very  common,  and  even  modern  practice,  of  deter- 
mining the  truth  or  falsehood  of  accusation,  and  even  the  right 
of  property,  by  battle.  Of  the  same  family  is  the  modern 
duel,  though  in  this  last  case  the  appeal  to  God  is  not  supposed 
to  be  an  element,  the  parties  depending  entirely  on  their  skill, 
pistols,  and  steadiness  of  nerves ;  and  the  attendants  are  chang- 
ed from  priests  into  surgeons. 

As  the  Saxon  language  (which  is  really  the  English  lan- 
guage of  the  present  day,  modified,  as  all  living  languages 
are,  by  the  lapse  of  time)  was  as  perfect,  probably,  in  Alfred's 
time  as  at  any  subsequent  one,  it  will  be  convenient  to  notice 
it  here.  Before  that  time  it  was  a  spoken  language,  and  the 
language  of  poetry  as  used  by  the  harpers,  but  rarely  a  writ- 
ten language.  The  Latin  was  the  written  language,  and  that 
was  mostly  unknown  except  among  the  churchmen.  It  was 
Alfred  who  caused  the  Saxon  language  to  be  a  written  one. 
It  is  foreign  to  the  present  purpose  to  state  the  opinions  which 
learned  men  have  entertained  on  the  origin  of  languages. 
Were  all  the  languages  that  have  been  and  now  are  spoken 
on  the  earth,  derived  from  some  original  primitive  language  ? 
Are  these  languages  in  their  own  nature  so  radically  distinct, 
that  they  could  not  have  been  so  derived  1  Were  all  lan- 
guages the  gift  of  the  Deity,  or  from  his  inspiration  ?  Are  they 
of  human  invention,  and  carried  on  in  the  lapse  of  ages  from 
some  original  sounds  or  elements,  to  the  present  perfection  ? 
These  are  questions  on  which  learned  men  of  different  ages 
and  countries  have  exercised  all  their  ingenuity. 

Turner  has  attempted  (towards  the  close  of  his  second  vol- 
ume) to  apply  the  theory  of  Tooke  on  the  formation  of  lan- 
guage (Diversions  of  Perley)  to  the  Saxon.  Mr.  Tooke's 
theory  is,  that  there  are  only  two  original  parts  of  speech,  the 
noun  and  the  verb,  and  that  the  other  parts  are  abbreviations  of 
these  two.  The  nouns  rank  first,  as  they  are  the  objects  of 
the  senses,  in  the  origin ;  and  then  the  verb,  as  this  implies 
acting  or  being  acted  upon,  by  nouns ;  and  thus  these  two  are 
the  primitive  stock  of  language.  The  verb  is  formed  by 
adding  to  the  noun  a  word  which  signifies  acting.  Thus,  in 
the  Saxon,  ian  or  an  is  the  verb,  which  is  added  to  any  noun, 
as  the  Saxon  word  borg  means  a  loan ;  borg-ian  means  to 
lend.  Car  was  the  Saxon  word  for  care ;  full,  a  word  signi- 
fying some  quantity  :  the  addition  of  nysse  (a  common  Saxon 
termination)  makes  a  new  class  of  nouns,  as  car-ful-nysse. 
Ac,  signifies  oak,  corn,  the  well-known  plant,  ac-corn,  or  acorn 
is  the  corn  of  the  oak.     It  is  said  (by  Turner)  that  all  the 


SAXON    LANGUAGE. 


79 


adjectives  are  formed  from  the  participles  of  verbs,  or  from 
some  qualifying  addition  to  nouns.  Er  or  ar,  implies  priori- 
ty, whence  the  comparative  degree,  and  est,  implies  munificence 
or  abundance,  and,  being  added  to  an  original  noun,  formed  the 
Saxon  superlative.  These  few  remarks  may  serve  to  show 
how  the  Saxon  language  is  supposed  to  have  been  constructed ; 
but  as  to  the  wonderful  difference  between  the  original  efforts, 
and  the  perfect  language,  the  difficulty  of  the  process  is  not  re- 
moved. Some  of  the  languages  of  the  American  Indians  are 
found  to  be  as  copious,  as  flexible,  and  expressive,  for  all  the 
ideas  which  such  a  people  can  have,  as  any  of  those  which  are 
spoken  in  Europe. 

To  show  the  similarity  between  the  Anglo-Saxon,  and  the 
English,  as  now  spoken,  the  following  is  the  Lord's  prayer  in 
both  languages,  as  stated  by  Turner. 


TJrin  Fader  thic  arth  in  heofnes 
Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven ; 

Sic  gehalgad  thin  noma, 
Be  hallowed  thine  name, 
To  cymeth  thin  rye ; 
To  come  thine  kingdom ; 

Sic  thin  willa  sue  is  in  heofnas  and  in  eortho ; 
Be  thine  will  so  as  in  heaven,  and  in  earth ; 

TJrin  hlef  ofirwistlie  sel  us  to  daig; 
Our  loaf,  super  excellent,  give  us  to  day ; 

And  forgefe  us  scylda  urna,  sue  we  forgefan ; 

Scyldum  urum; 
And  forgive  us  debts  ours,  as  we  forgive  debts  of  ours ; 

And  no  inlead  usig  in  custnung, 
And  not  lead  us  into  temptation, 

Ah  gefrig  usich  frun  ine 
But  free  us  from  evil. 

The  Saxon,  like  all  other  living  languages,  was  found,  even 
in  Alfred's  time,  (by  comparing  him  with  the  historian  Bede,)  to 
have  undergone,  in  a  century  and  a  half,  great  changes.  One 
tenth  of  the  words,  at  least,  had  become  obsolete.  Besides  such 
changes,  the  Danes  and  the  Normans  introduced  some  words ; 
churchmen  and  scholars  have  introduced  many  more  from  the 
Latin.  Science  has  depended  almost  entirely  on  the  Greek 
for  the  words  which  it  has  called  into  use;  buf still  the  basis  is 
Saxon. 

This  will  appear  the  more  obviously,  from  the  following 
lines ;  (all  of  those  which  are  in  italics  are  of  Saxon  origin ; 
the  others  from  the  other  sources,  principally  Latin;)  the  lines 


80  SAXON    LANGUAGE. 

are  from  Cowley,   who   lived  in  the  time  of  Cromwell,  and 
died  in  1667. 

Mark  that  swift  arrow !  how  it  cuts  the  air ; 
How  it  outruns  the  following  eye  I 
Use  all  persuasions  novi,  and  try 
If  thou  canst  call  it  back,  or  stay  it  there. 
That  way  it  went ;  but  thou  shaltfind, 
No  track  it  left  behind. 
Fool!  'tis  thy  life,  and  the  fond  archer  thou. 
Of  all  the  time  thou'st  shot  away, 
111  bid  thee  fetch  but  yesterday, 
And  it  shall  be  too  hard  a  task  to  do. 

There  are  76  words  in  these  lines — 69  of  them  are  Saxon, 
and  the  remaining  7  are  from  other  sources,  mostly  from  the 
Latin. 

NAMES    OF    THE    WEEK. 

Sunday — ov  Sunnan  daeg — is  the  sun's  day. 
Monday — or  Monan  daeg — is  the  moon's  say. 
Tuesday — or  Tiwes  daeg— is  Tiw's  day. 
Wednesday — or  Wodnes  daeg — is  Woden's  day. 
Thursday — or  Thunre's  daeg — is  Thunre's  day. 
Friday — or  Frige  daeg — is  Friga's  day. 
Saturday — or  Seterne's  daeg — is  Seterne's  day. 

These  names  are  of  northern  origin,  brought  by  the  first 
Saxons,  and  have  reference  to  the  pagan  Deities,  who  were 
their  objects  of  worship.  Woden,  of  the  Saxons,  and  Odin,  of 
the  Danes,  is  probably  the  same,  and  is  thought  to  be  (as  among 
Greeks)  a  deified  mortal.     [Turner's  Saxon  History.] 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Succession  of  Kings  from  Alfred  to  William  the  Conqueror — St.  Dmistan — 
Danish  Kings — Battle  of  Hastings —  William,  in  1066. 

From  the  Great  Alfred's  death,  in  901,  to  the  time  of  the 
conquest  of  England,  by  William  of  Normandy,  in  1066,  is 
155  years.  At  the  end  of  these  years  no  more  is  heard  of 
the  Anglo  Saxons  as  a  distinct  people.  In  this  space  of  time 
there  were  fourteen  kings ;  three  of  them  were  Danes,  as  that 
people  obtained  the  mastery  for  about  38  years.  From  1066 
the  political  affairs  of  England  became  involved  with  those  of 
the  kingdoms  on  the  continent,  and  especially  with  that  of 


SUCCESSION    OF    KINGS EDWARD.  81 

France,  and  have  ever  since  continued  so  to  be,  in  some  re- 
spects. If  there  be  taken  out  of  these  155  years,  the  history 
of  battles,  and  of  crimes  perpetrated  in  connection  with  efforts 
to  obtain,  or  to  hold,  the  kingly  authority,  there  remain  but  few 
instructive  events.  We  shall  pass  lightly  over  the  battles,  and 
notice  crimes  but  in  few  cases.  Those  events  which  tended  to 
change  the  character  of  society  permanently,  for  better  or  worse, 
deserve  attention  ;  for  these  only  affect  the  present  condition  of 
the  world. 

KINGS  OF  ENGLAND  FROM  901  TO  1066. 

Anglo  Saxon. 

Edward  the  Elder,  son  of  Alfred. 
Athelstan,  natural  son  of  Edward. 
Edmund  the  Elder,  brother  of  Athelstan. 
Edred,  third  son  of  Edward. 
Edwin,  or  Edwy,  son  of  Edmund. 
Edgar,  brother  of  Edwin. 
Edward  the  martyr,  son  of  Edgar. 
Ethelred  the  unready,  brother  of  Edward. 
Edmund,  ironside,  natural  son  of  Ethelred. 

Danish  Kings. 

Canute  the  Great. 

Harold,  second  son  of  Canute. 

Hardicnute,  third  son  of  Canute. 

Anglo  Saxon. 

1042  to   1065.     Edward  the  confessor,  son  of  Ethelred. 
1065  to   1066.     Harold,  son  of  Godwin. 

1066.     William  of  Normandy,  the  conqueror. 

Edward  the  Elder,  901 — 925,  spent  most  of  his  years  in  war- 
fare with  the  Danes,  who  held  a  part  of  England  during  Alfred's 
time,  and  who  attempted  to  free  themselves  from  the  limits  in 
which  they  had  been  held,  and  to  conquer  the  Saxons.  Edward 
resisted  them  successfully,  and  strengthened  the  Saxon  domin- 
ion. No  events  worth  narrating  occurred  in  his  time.  He  was 
twice  married.  He  had  an  illegitimate  son,  Athelstan,  whose 
mother  was  a  shepherd's  daughter.  Edward  had  nine  daugh- 
ters, who  were  distinguished  for  beauty.  Five  of  them  married 
reigning  potentates  on   the  continent.     He  had  four  sons  be- 


901  to 

925. 

925  to 

940. 

940  to 

946. 

946  to 

955. 

955  to 

959. 

959  to 

975. 

975  to 

978. 

978  to 

1016. 

1016  to 

1017. 

1017  to 

1035. 

1035  to 

1040. 

1040  to 

1042. 

82  ATHELSTAN EDWIN. 

sides  Athelstan.  He  died  a  natural  death,  and  is  considered  to 
have  been  a  respectable  king,  and  worthy  of  his  father. 

Athelstan,  925 — 940,  acquired  celebrity  as  a  warrior,  and 
was  the  first  of  the  Saxon  kings  who  reigned  over  all  England. 
He  was  childless  himself,  but  he  had  his  sisters  to  bestow  in 
marriage,  and  through  this  circumstance,  and  the  fame  which 
he  acquired  in  subduing  his  enemies,  whether  Danes,  Scots,  or 
Welsh,  he  was  highly  respected  on  the  continent,  as  well  as 
within  his  own  dominions.  It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance, 
that  several  young  persons  resided  at  Athelstan's  court,  by  invi- 
tation, or  from  having  sought  refuge  there  in  political  storms ; 
and,  among  others,  three  who  afterwards  became  reigning  po- 
tentates on  the  continent,  Alan,  of  B.retagne,  Louis,  of  France, 
and  Haco,  of  Norway.  The  character  which  Turner  gives 
of  him  (vol.  i.  p.  364)  is  such  as  few  monarchs  acquire  or  de- 
serve. "  It  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  he  was  a  favorite,  both 
among  his  own  people  and  in  Europe.  He  was  certainly  a 
great  and  illustrious  character,  and  amiable  as  great.  To  the 
clergy,  attentive— to  his  people,  affable  and  pleasant — with  the 
great,  dignified — with  others,  condescending  and  decently  fa- 
miliar. His  people  loved  him  for  his  bravery  and  humility ; 
but  his  enemies  felt  his  wrath."  Turner  attempts  no  pallia- 
tion of  the  crime  of  Athelstan  in  sending  his  brother  Edward 
to  sea  in  a  shattered  boat,  without  oars,  with  the  design,  and 
with  the  effect,  of  having  him  drowned.  The  reign  of  Ed- 
mund the  Elder,  940 — 946,  affords  nothing  worth  notice.  He 
was  assassinated  at  a  festival ;  precisely  how,  is  not  known. 
The  reign  of  Edred,  946 — 955,  needs  not  a  single  remark. 

In  the  reign  of  Edwin,  955 — 959,  some  extraordinary  events 
occurred.  To  introduce  these,  it  is  necessary  to  mention,  that, 
as  far  back  as  480,  Benedict,  an  Italian,  was  born.  This  per- 
son saw  fit  to  reside  several  years  in  a  deep  cavern,  alone.  His 
food  was  let  down  to  him  by  a  friend,  who,  for  a  long  time,  was 
the  only  person  that  knew  his  place  of  residence.  In  that  age 
it  is  not  wonderful,  that  this  man's  singularities,  as  they  were 
connected  with  piety,  excited  curiosity,  then  veneration,  and  at 
length  gave  him  great  celebrity;  and  a  powerful  influence  over 
the  Christian  world.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  order  of 
Benedictine  monks,  still  known  in  Europe*  Before  the  year 
1462,  there  had  been  18  popes,  200  cardinals,  1600  archbish- 
ops, 4000  bishops,  15,700  abbots,  15,600  saints,  all  of  whom 
were  Benedictines.  This  order  had  spread  over  Europe,  and 
its  influence  was  felt  in  the  west  in  the  tenth  century.  In  the 
reign  of  Edwin,  Benedictine  monks  had  found  their  way  into 


SAINT    DUNSTAN.  83 

England.  Here  lived  the  celebrated  Dunstan,  who  became 
one  of  these  monks,  and  who  obtained  such  supremacy,  as  an 
ecclesiastic,  as  to  make  kings,  nobles,  prelates,  and  the  whole 
kingdom  submissive  to  his  will.  He  effected  a  complete  revo- 
lution in  church  affairs,  and  made  such  impression  on  society 
that  it  was  felt  through  many  centuries. 

Saint  Dunstan  was  one  of  those  men  who  present  the  diffi- 
cult problem,  whether  they  are  sincere  in  motives  and  measures, 
or  profound  hypocrites  ;  or  whether  they  are  sincere  and  hon- 
est in  motives,  but  who  consider  all  means,  however  criminal, 
proper,  if  adapted  to  accomplish  their  objects.  This  problem 
is  not  confined  to  St.  Dunstan,  nor  to  any  age,  or  country; 
nor  to  religion  ;  it  is  equally  a  problem  in  politics,  and  occurs 
in  our  own  country,  and  in  our  own  times;  and,  in  short, 
wherever  there  is  human  society.  He,  only,  who  can  read  the 
human  heart  can  know  motives.  To  human  seeming  no 
small  portion  of  what  is  done  in  the  world  may  be  referred  to 
one  or  the  other  of  the  above  suppositions,  or  to  a  compound 
of  both.  If  any  one  will  open  his  eyes  upon  what  is  passing, 
he  will  have  frequent  occasion  to  ask,  Is  this  man  doing  wrong, 
knowing  it  to  be  wrong,  and  because  he  thinks  he  can  promote 
his  own  purposes  in  so  doing?  or.  does  he  think  himself  right 
and  honest  as  to  his  objects,  and  that  the  means,  whatever  they 
may  be,  are  right,  if  those  objects  can  be  thereby  accomplished? 
It  is  not  among  the  eminent  only,  in  whatsoever  department, 
that  these  questions  arise,  but  among  all  who  have  not  learned, 
that  the  true  end  of  living  is  best  attained  by  the  pursuit  of  jus- 
tifiable ends,  by  righteous  means. 

Dunstan  was  born  at  Glastenbury,  in  the  southwest  of  Eng- 
land, in  925.  He  was  a  person  of  extraordinary  intellect,  and 
availed  himself  of  the  means  of  instruction.  He  acquired  all 
that  was  then  known  in  mathematical  science ;  he  excelled  in 
music,  in  writing,  painting,  engraving,  and  in  working  gold, 
silver,  copper,  and  iron.  In  early  manhood  he  presented  him- 
self at  the  king's  (Edred's)  court.  His  accomplishments  caused 
him  to  be  accused  of  demoniacal  arts.  He  was  expelled.  He 
then  became  a  Benedictine  monk.  In  the  legends  of  that  or- 
der, he  is  as  celebrated  for  supernatural  and  miraculous  agen- 
cies, as  King  Arthur  was,  in  the  poetical  fictions  of  the  bards, 
for  heroic  achievements.  Among  these  legends  was  one  on  St. 
Dunstan  and  the  Devil,  which  is  sometimes  alluded  to  even  in 
these  days. 

The  qualities  of  Dunstan  were  audacity,  impetuosity,  ambi- 
tion.    Like  Benedict  he  prepared  an  abode  in  the  side  of  a  hill, 


84  EDGAR. 

five  feet  deep,  two  and  an  half  wide,  and  high  enough  to  stand 
up  in,  closed  by  a  door,  an  aperture  in  which  let  in  light  and 
air.  Here  he  exercised  himself  in  piety  and  in  working  on 
metals.  The  neighborhood  were  alarmed  one  night  by  terrific 
howlings  which  proceeded  from  this  abode.  In  the  morning 
multitudes  appeared  there  to  inquire  the  cause.  Dunstan  ex- 
plained the  matter  to  their  entire  satisfaction,  by  assuring  them 
that  the  Devil  had  made  him  a  visit,  and  had  thrust  his  head 
through  the  opening  in  the  door,  whereupon  Dunstan  seized 
him  with  his  tongs,  by  the  nose,  and  there  held  him,  and  that 
the  noises  which  they  heard  were  the  roarings  of  the  Devil. 
If  this  legend  is  to  be  credited,  it  serves  as  an  illustration  of 
the  character  of  Dunstan,  and  is  unworthy  of  notice  for  any 
other  purpose. 

The  celebrity  of  Dunstan  again  introduced  him  to  court  in 
Edred's  time;  and  he  was  there  in  Edwin's  time,  and  rose  to 
the  highest  honors  of  the  church.  At  this  time,  Odo,  the  son 
of  a  ferocious  Northman,  who  was  among  the  invaders  of  Eng- 
land, was  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Edwin  was  but  16,  when 
he  was  crowned.  At  the  festival,  on  that  occasion,  Odo  and 
Dunstan  were  present.  Edwin  retired  from  the  feast,  and 
went  to  the  apartment  in  which  were  Elgiva,  his  wife,  and  her 
mother.  The  company  being  displeased  by  his  absence, 
Dunstan,  accompanied  by  the  bishop,  thrust  himself  into  the 
apartment,  forcibly  replaced  the  king's  crown  on  his  head,  and 
brought  him  back  to  the  table.  The  king  resented  this  indig- 
nity, deprived  Dunstan  of  his  honors,  and  he  fled  to  the  conti- 
nent. But  Odo  espoused  his  cause,  and  divorced  Edwin  from 
Elgiva  on  the  ground  of  kindred,  and  attempted  to  destroy  her 
beauty  by  branding  her  face  with  hot  irons,  then  banished  her 
to  Ireland.  She  returned :  then  these  conscientious  prelates 
severed  the  muscles  of  her  lower  limbs,  to  make  her  incapable 
of  motion.  These  barbarous  acts  occasioned  her  death.  The  at- 
tempts of  Edwin  to  exercise  his  authority  against  his  prelates 
raised  a  rebellion  under  their  guidance,  and  the  unfortunate 
monarch  died,  broken-hearted,  before  he  had  attained  to  man- 
hood. Such  occurrences  show  what  the  state  of  society  was, 
and  what  a  tremendous  power  had  already  grown  up  under  the 
shadow  of  perverted  religion. 

Edgar,  955 — 975,  the  brother  of  Edwin,  was  but  sixteen 
when  he  came  to  the  throne.  Dunstan  returned,  and  became 
the  real  monarch  of  England.  He  expelled  the  clergy  from 
their  offices  and  abodes,  and  substituted  Benedictines  through- 
out the  realm.     In  this  way  he  secured  partisans  in  all  high 


EDWARD    THE    MARTYR.  85 

places  in  the  church.  The  accounts  which  are  given  of  his 
pretended  visions,  of  angelic  missions  to  him  from  heaven, 
and  of  his  own  pretended  visits  to  heaven  while  in  a  seeming 
trance,  show  the  audacious  aspiring  of  the  priest.  No  charity- 
will  admit  him  to  have  been  self-deceived.  But  he  had  not  yet 
attained  to  be  primate  of  England.  This  required  a  still  fur- 
ther exercise  of  his  ingenuity. 

The  reign  of  Edgar  is  commended  because  it  was,  fortunate- 
ly, pacific  compared  with  others.  He  was  successful  in  such 
wars  as  did  occur,  and  also  in  suppressing,  in  some  degree, 
clerical  ambition.  But  in  the  exercise  of  his  power  he  was 
strongly  contrasted  with  Alfred.  He  lived  for  himself,  pom- 
pously and  magnificently;  yet  performed  kingly  duties  well,  in 
some  respects.  He  is  said  to  have  enforced  the  laws,  to  have 
suppressed  robberies,  and  to  have  inspected  his  kingdom  per- 
sonally, in  periodical  circuits.  As  an  instance  of  his  vanity, 
he  went  to  Chester,  to  which  place  he  had  ordered  certain  petty 
tributary  kings,  of  Wales,  and  of  the  north,  to  come,  to  the 
number  of  eight;  and  he  ordered  these  potentates  to  row  him 
in  a  barge  on  the  Dee,  while  he  sat  at  the  helm.  Alfred  would 
have  blushed  for  such  a  descendant.  Some  odious  aggressions 
on  private  rights,  of  the  most  sacred  character,  stain  the  mem- 
ory of  this  vain  prince.  He  did  not  long  disgrace  his  station : 
his  career  was  closed  at  the  age  of  thirty-two. 

Some  question  arose  on  the  succession,  between  Edward  the 
Martyr  and  Ethelred.  St.  Dunstan  assumed  to  end  the  contest 
by  crowning  Edward.  The  contention  seems  to  have  been 
between  parties,  who  might  be  called  clerical  and  anti-cler- 
ical ;  or  rather  between  those  who  favored  the  ancient  cler- 
gy, and  those  who  favored  Dunstan,  as  the  Chief  of  the  Ben- 
edictines. He  again  resorted  to  miracles  and  to  crimes.  His 
opponents  were  the  nobles,  better  known  in  after  times  as  the 
barons.  He  assembled  (Turner  says,  vol.  1.  p.  405.)  a  council 
of  nobles  at  Calne  in  975.  It  was  so  managed  that  the  young 
king  was  absent.  While  the  senators  of  England  were  debat- 
ing, and  reproaching  Dunstan,  he  made  a  short  reply — closing 
with  the  words, — "I  confess  that  I  am  unwilling  to  be  over- 
come. I  commit  the  cause  of  the  church  to  the  decision  of 
Christ."  When  these  words  were  uttered,  the  supporters  of 
the  flooring  gave  way,  and  all  present,  but  Dunstan,  fell  amidst 
the  ruins  to  the  earth  below.  His  seat  remained  unmoved. 
Many  were  killed,  and  more  grievously  wounded. 

There  was  but  one  person  in  England  who  was  able  to  cope 
with  Dunstan.  This  was  Elfrida,  own  mother  of  Ethelred,  and 
8 


86  ETHELRED EDMUND  IRONSIDE. 

mother-in-law  of  the  king.  The  efforts  of  this  princess,  to  coun- 
teract the  measures  of  Dunstan,  are  a  series  of  abominable 
crimes,  not  worth  a  detail.  The  most  conspicuous  of  them  was 
that  by  which  she  removed  Edward,  and  enthroned  her  son. 
While  hunting  in  Dorsetshire,  near  Wareham,  Edward  was 
separated  from  his  companions,  and  came  in  view  of  Corfe 
Castle,  where  Elfrida  and  her  son  resided.  He  rode  up  to  the 
entrance,  and  the  Lady  and  her  son  came  out  to  him.  She  of- 
fered him  some  refreshment  in  a  goblet,  and  while  he  was 
drinking,  an  assassin  plunged  a  dagger  into  his  back,  and  in- 
flicted a  mortal  wound.  He  fled,  fell  from  his  horse,  was  drag- 
ged hanging  by  the  stirrup,  and  found  dead.  This  incident 
has  given  him  the  dignified  name  of  the  martyr,  for  which  he 
was,  probably,  indebted  to  Dunstan. 

Ethelred,  978 — 1016,  had  a  long  and  disgraceful  reign.  He 
acquired  the  surname  oithe  unready,  as  he  was  never  prepared 
to  meet  his  adversaries,  who  again  appeared  in  the  Northmen. 
One  of  his  odious  measures  towards  his  enemies  was,  to  order 
secretly  a  massacre  of  all  the  Danes  in  England.  This  por- 
tion of  his  subjects  was  intermingled  with  the  Saxons ;  friend- 
ships, marriages,  and  various  associations,  had  united  the  two 
races.  This  cruel  and  useless  perfidy,  on  his  part,  excited  the 
vengeance  of  the  Northmen.  They  came  with  powerful  forces. 
Instead  of  contending  with  them  in  arms,  he  impoverished  his 
subjects  by  raising  money  to  buy  peace.  He  was  at  last  com- 
pelled to  resist.  But  the  want  of  confidence  in  him,  the  in- 
stances of  perfidy  in  those  he  employed,  his  incapacity  to  govern, 
and  his  obstinacy  in  attempting  to  govern,  reduced  the  realm  to 
a  miserable  condition.  The  only  hope  of  saving  it  from 
subjection  was,  that  the  power  might  devolve  upon  another 
ruler.  Ethelred  died  in  1016,  but  too  late  to  save  the  kingdom. 

Edmund,  surnamed  Ironside,  1016 — 1017,  an  illegitimate 
son  of  the  last  king,  was  worthy  of  a  better  fate  thaniefel  him. 
He  struggled  manfully  against  the  Danes,  about  a  year,  and 
fought  some  battles  which  do  him  credit  as  a  king  and  a  sol- 
dier. To  his  honor,  as  a  man,  he  mourned  over  the  destruc- 
tion of  his  subjects  in  these  ruinous  conflicts,  and  came  to  the 
resolution  of  challenging  Canute,  the  Danish  chief,  to  settle 
their  pretensions  by  a  single  combat.  This  led  to  a  pacification, 
and  England  was  divided  between  them.  Canute  was  to  reign 
in  the  north,  Edmund  in  the  south.  In  the  same  year  Ed- 
mund was  murdered,  in  what  manner  is  uncertain,  but  the 
northern  sagas  (historical  poems)  ascribe  the  murder  to  one 
Edric,  (an   infamous  traitor,  who  was   alternately  on   either 


CANUTE HAROLD.  87 

side,)  and  intimate,  that  the  act  was  done  at  the  suggestion  of 
Canute.  In  this  time  arose  a  remarkable  person  called  God- 
win, a  Saxon  peasant,  who  sided  with  the  Danes,  and  whose 
son  became  a  king,  to  which  elevation  Godwin  had  aspired 
himself. 

Canute,  the  Dane,  1017 — 1035,  was  called  the  brave:  though 
his  fame  is  stained  with  some  odious  crimes,  he  was,  for  a 
Northman  of  that  age,  entitled  to  be  remembered  with  respect. 
It  was  consistent  with  the  common  policy  of  the  times,  by  fraud 
or  force,  to  remove  all  Saxon  competitors  to  the  throne.  He 
soon  obtained  dominion  over  all  England.  The  infamous  Ed- 
ric  was  slain  in  Canute's  presence.  Canute  reproached  Edric 
with  his  crime  in  murdering  his  own  king,  Edmund,  because 
he  was,  by  treaty,  Canute's  friend  and  brother!  An  historian 
says, — "  The  villain  who  perpetrated  the  act,  was  confounded 
by  the  hypocrite  who  countenanced  it."  Canute  married  Em- 
ma, (or  Elgiva,)  Ethelred's  widow.  He  had  the  reputation  of 
reigning  over  six  kingdoms  ;  three  of  them  in  the  north.  There 
were  traits  of  a  great  mind,  in  this  person,  who  became  wiser 
and  better  as  he  grew  older.  It  is  remarkable  that  such  a  man 
should  be  mentioned  with  praise  for  his  Christian  piety.  This 
is  the  monarch  who  is  said  to  have  placed  himself  on  the  sea 
shore,  in  a  chair,  in  the  presence  of  his  nobles,  to  command  the 
rising  tide  to  retire.  Some  historians  mention  that  fact,  as  an 
instance  of  the  vanity  and  folly  of  a  mortal  who  happened  to 
hold  a  high  earthly  dignity.  But  Turner  gives  it  a  different 
version.  He  says,  when  the  tide  had  risen  to  the  monarch's 
knees,  regardless  of  his  command  to  retire,  Canute  exclaimed, 
"  Let  every  dweller  on  the  earth  confess,  that  the  power  of 
kings  is  frivolous  and  vain !  He  only  is  the  Great  Supreme — 
let  him  only  be  honored  with  the  name  of  majesty,  whose  nod, 
whose  everlasting  laws,  the  heavens,  the  earth  and  sea,  with  all 
their  hosts,  obey."  Canute  was  the  master  of  great  riches, 
and  showed  his  liberality  in  dispensing  them  in  a  sort  of  proud 
pilgrimage  to  Rome.  He  was,  undoubtedly,  a  very  respecta- 
ble person  among  the  order  of  men  called  kings,  and  is  a  rare 
instance  of  one's  growing  wiser  and  better,  both  as  a  man  and 
as  a  king,  in  singular  prosperity. 

Harold  the  first,  1035 — 1042,  surnamed  Harefoot,  second 
son  of  Canute,  had  a  short  reign,  stained  with  some  disgraceful 
deeds.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  third  son  of  Canute,  called 
Hardicnute,  who  reigned  two  years,  and  died  at  a  nuptial  feast. 
He  wras  standing  in  a  gay  company,  and  drank  copiously,  fell 
senseless,  and  soon  died.  With  him  ended  the  Danish  reign, 
in  1042. 


88  HAROLD WILLIAM    THE    CONQUEROR. 

The  crown  came  again  to  a  Saxon  prince,  who  is  historically 
known  as  Edward  the  Confessor,  surviving  son  of  Ethelred. 
This  person  is  represented  to  have  been  very  weak,  and  to 
have  been  incessantly  harassed  by  the  aspiring  Godwin,  who 
was  rash,  ambitious,  and  powerful.  Godwin  had  great  address 
and  talents,  and  may  have  entertained,  very  justly,  the  opinion, 
that  he  should  make  a  much  better  king  than  Edward,  who  is 
said  to  have  spent  his  days  in  praying  and  hunting.  He 
reigned  from  1042  to  1066, 

The  glory  of  Saxon  fame  had  long  since  been  lost ;  the 
national  name  was  also  soon  to  be  lost.  Edward  leaving  no 
child,  there  were  two  aspirants  to  the  throne,  with  no  other 
rights  than  which  of  the  two  had  the  longest  sword.  Rollo, 
a  descendant  from  northern  kings,  had  established  himself,  in 
911,  by  force,  in  that  part  of  France  called  Normandy.  The 
fourth  duke  of  Normandy  from  Rollo,  was  Robert,  father  of 
William  the  Conqueror.  The  other  aspirant  was  Harold,  the 
son  of  Godwin.  On  the  very  evening  of  Edward's  funeral, 
Harold  took  the  crown.  Both  William  and  Harold*  insisted 
that  the  right  was  acquired  by  the  voluntary  gift  of  Edward, 
a  title  not  likely  to  be  much  respected  by  either.  Both  pre- 
pared to  settle  their  right  by  that  which  settles  all  right  when 
it  must  be  resorted  to — which  is  the  strongest.  William  had 
strengthened  himself  by  aids  from  the  vicinity  of  Normandy, 
and  had  called  to  his  assistance  some  of  the  kings  of  the  north. 
Harold  had  assembled  all  the  strength  of  England,  as  his  was 
a  contest  in  which  Anglo- Danes  and  Saxons  could  unite. 

William  and  Harold  met  on  the  sea-coast  of  England,  near 
a  place  called  Hastings,  sixty  miles  south-east  from  London. 
The  battle  of  Hastings  settled  the  fate  of  England,  and  turned 
the  tide  of  its  affairs  into  a  new  and  unexpected  channel. 
The  battle  was  fought  on  the  14th  of  October,  1066,  with  a 
bravery  and  skill  proportioned  to  the  prize  on  that  day  to  be 
won  or  lost  forever.  The  numbers  engaged  in  this  battle  are 
differently  stated  by  different  historians.  If,  as  seems  to  be 
generally  admitted,  fifteen  thousand  Normans  were  slain,  the 
Norman  army  must  have  been  more  than  double  that  number. 
The  united  Saxons  and  Danes,  as  they  had  not  the  sea  to  cross, 
but  were  gathered  on  their  own  territories,  were  probably 
greater.  William  was  often  in  imminent  peril,  having  had 
three  horses  killed  under  him.  The  fate  of  the  day  was  long 
doubtful,  sometimes  inclining  to  one  side  and  then  to  the  other. 
When  it  seemed  most  favorable  to  the  English,  and  when  the 
Normans  were  nearest  to  giving  way  in  despair,  William  dis- 


william.  yy 

posed  of  the  most  powerful  body  he  could  command,  so  as 
to  take  advantage  of  his  intended  movement,  and  then  rushed 
on  furiously  with  the  residue,  as  though  for  a  last  and  deter- 
mined assault.  But,  as  he  intended,  his  troops  soon  gave  way, 
and  appeared  to  be  retreating  in  confusion.  The  English  then 
quitted  their  strong  ground  and  came  on  to  reap  the  fruits  of 
victory.  'They  were  assailed,  in  their  disordered  ranks,  by 
the  reserve  of  William,  and  became  an  easy  conquest.  Har- 
old and  his  two  brothers,  with  nearly  all  the  young  and  gal- 
lant nobles  of  the  realm,  fell  in  this  battle.)  England  beheld  a 
new  race,'a  new  language,  new  laws,  andnew  manners — new 
and  foreign  customs,  and  grievous  oppressions.  To  the  manly 
and  elevated  feelings  and  habits  of  rational  liberty  which 
Alfred  had  implanted,  succeeded  the  force  and  brutality  of  the 
feudal  system,  which  William  brought  with  him,  and  tyranni- 
cally enforced.  But  the  benefits  and  the  glories  of  Saxon  lib- 
erty, though  overwhelmed  and  lost  for  centuries,  were  not  lost 
forever.  The  day  was  to  come  when  the  effects  of  the  Nor- 
man conquest  were  to  be  rooted  out  and  give  place  to  the 
institutions  of  Alfred,  and  again  to  make  his  memory  precious 
to  all  who  pride  themselves  in  Saxon  descent.. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Reign  of  William — Introduction  of  the  Feudal  System — Doomsday 
Book — Game  Laws — William  Rufus — Henry  I. — Stephen — Henry  II. — 
Thomas  a  Becket — Events  in  Henry's  Reign — His  Death — State  of 
Society. 

The  contest  between  Harold  the  Saxon,  and  William  the 
Norman,  at  Hastings,  on  the  14th  of  October,  1066,  settled 
who  should  win  the  battle,  and  wear  the  English  crown.  If 
this  had  been  all  that  the  contest  settled,  it  would  have  been 
like  a  thousand  other  battles,  of  little  importance  except  to  the 
parties  concerned  therein.  The  result  was  not  only  victory 
to  William,  and  the  throne  of  England  to  him  and  his  heirs, 
but  the  destiny  of  the  Saxon  people  was  thereby  essentially 
and  most  unfavorably  changed.  The  consequences  of  that 
victory  are  felt  to  this  day,  in  England,  and  in  every  land 
which  has  been,  or  still  is,  a  colony  of  England.  The  desti- 
nies of  France  were,  also,  unfavorably  changed.  The  foun- 
dation was  laid,  by  this  event,  for  the  long,  bloody,  and  ruinr 
8* 


90  WILLIAM. 

ous  wars  which  have  been  carried  on  between  that  country 
and  England.  It  may  not  be  assuming  too  much  to  say,  that 
William's  victory  arrested  the  progress  of  civilization  and 
refinement  in  England,  and  brought  back  and  prolonged  igno- 
rance and  barbarism  there,  for  centuries.  It  may,  perhaps,  be 
justly  said,  that  this  victory  was  a  calamity  not  only  to  Eng- 
land, but  to  Europe. 

Under  the  influence  of  the  great  Alfred's  labors  and  exam- 
ple, the  Saxons  of  England  were  the  best  informed,  the  most 
cultivated,  and  the  most  refined  people  of  Europe.  They  had 
acquired  far  better  knowledge,  than  any  other  people,  of  the 
principles  of  political  justice  and  of  the  best  means  of  pro- 
moting social  welfare.  If  the  power  of  the  Roman  Church 
was  not  to  overshadow  the  understandings  of  the  Saxons,  they 
had  received  an  impulse  from  Alfred,  which  would  have  led 
to  the  most  beneficial  attainments.  Probably  they  would  have 
been  wise  enough  to  have  resisted  that  power.  The  conquest 
of  William  deprived  them  of  all  they  had  attained,  even  of 
their  own  language.  He  ordered  that  the  only  language  of 
his  court  should  be  his  own  barbarous  Norman  French ;  that 
the  acts  of  the  government  and  the  administration  of  justice 
should  be  in  this  language,  and  that  none  other  should  be 
taught  in  the  schools.  Within  five  years,  all  public  offices  in 
the  state,  in  the  church,  and  in  the  army,  were  filled  by  Nor- 
mans ;  and  so  oppressive  and  tyrannical  were  all  the  measures 
of  these  new  rulers,  that,  after  some  feeble  attempts  at  resist- 
ance, all  who  could  leave  England  preferred  exile  to  the  new 
dominion. 

Hitherto,  the  Saxons  had  been  strangers  to  the  burthens  and 
oppressions  of  the  feudal  system.  It  now  came  on  them  with 
all  its  rigor.  The  tenure  of  all  the  landed  property  in  the 
kingdom  was  entirely  changed ;  the  territory  was  divided  into 
baronies,  and  assigned  to  the  great  barons  or  lords,  who  ac- 
knowledged themselves  to  hold  of  William,  as  the  supreme 
lord  over  all,  and  as  the  owner  of  all  the  land  in  the  kingdom, 
subject  to  the  uses  of  these  barons  and  their  tenants,  according 
to  prescribed  rules..  Having  elsewhere  described  the  origin, 
the  nature,  and  the  consequences  of  the  feudal  system,  we 
shall  only  add  here,  that  William  so  firmly  established  it  in 
England,  that,  to  this  day,  every  estate  owned  there,  still  re- 
tains the  most  obvious  proofs  of  having  been  transmitted 
through  that  system. 

One  of  the  most  oppressive  and  odious  acts  of  William, 
was  the  forcible  turning  out  from  their  lands  and  tenements 


WILLIAM.  91 

*$  1 

all  the  people  who  dwelt  in  a  space  of  thirty  miles  around  in 
the  south  of  England,  near  Winchester,  for  the  mere  purpose 
of  planting  a  forest  for  his  own  pleasure  in  hunting.  He  de- 
molished not  less  than  twenty-two  churches,  to  accomplish  his 
object.  This  outrage  is  consistent  with  the  well-known 
character  of  this  Norman  race.  They  had  but  three  princi- 
pal occupations  from  choice,  war,  hunting,  and  boisterous 
festivity.  To  William,  the  English  nation  of  the  present  day 
may  look  back  for  the  origin,  the  rigor,  and  the  vexation  of 
their  game  laws. 

Though  almost  every  thing  in  England,  civil  and  social, 
bears  some  stamp  of  the  Norman  conquest,  there  is  one  pecu- 
liar monument  of  William  in  the  volumes  called  Domes-day 
or  Dooms-day  book.  There  are  different  opinions  on  the 
meaning  of  the  name  which  this  book  bears.  But,  whatever 
this  meaning  may  have  been,  originally,  the  book  itself  con- 
tains what  would  be  called  a  valuation,  in  modern  language, 
or  an  exact  enumeration  and  record  of  all  the  property,  real 
and  personal,  throughout  the  kingdom,  and  to  whom  belong- 
ing. This  book  served  William  for  various  purposes,  and, 
among  others,  to  aid  him  in  whatever  exactions  he  saw  fit  to 
make.  The  original  book  has  survived  all  the  commotions 
and  revolutions  which  have  befallen  England,  and  is  now 
safely  kept  at  the  charter-house  in  Westminster,  and  is  acces- 
sible as  a  book  of  authority,  or  may  be  there  seen  as  an  object 
of  curiosity.     It  has  been  often  reprinted. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  our  Saxon  ancestors  endured 
these  tyrannical  acts  without  murmuring  or  resistance.  But 
the  despotism  of  William  was  too  firmly  established  to  be 
shaken,  though  well-concerted  attempts  were  frequently  made 
to  free  the  country  from  the  Norman  yoke.  WTilliam  wras 
sensible  that  he  ought  to  guard  himself  against  the  spirit  of 
hostility  and  hatred  which  he  must  have  excited.  He  relied 
for  security  on  fear  and  terror  only.  Whenever  the  occasion 
called  for  it,  his  punishments  were  terrible.  In  the  northern 
part  of  the  kingdom,  where  aid  might  be  expected  from  the 
Scotch,  the  will  to  resist  had  most  frequently  manifested  itself. 
William  appeared  there  with  a  formidable  force,  put  one  hun- 
dred thousand  inhabitants  to  the  sword,  and  laid  the  whole 
country  utterly  desolate,  from  York  to  Durham.  No  property, 
nor  any  person  of  any  age,  or  of  either  sex,  was  spared.  He 
established  a  watchful  and  energetic  police  throughout  his 
kingdom.  At  eight  o'clock  a  bell  was  rung.  This  was  a 
signal  that  every  fire  should  be  covered,  every  person  retire  to 


92  WILLIAM     RUFUS. 

bed,  and  every  light  be  extinguished.  This  bell  acquired  the 
name  of  curfeu,  because,  in  William's  Norman  language, 
ceuvre  is  the  word  to  cover,  and  feu  the  word  for  fire.* 

William  died  near  Rouen,  in  France,  in  his  sixty-third 
year,  in  consequence  of  some  accident  in  riding,  (1087.)  It 
is  not  unacceptable  to  find  it  recorded  of  him,  that  he  had 
some  contrition  at  the  close  of  his  life  for  his  oppressions  and 
tyrannies.  But  he  manifested  his  contrition  no  otherwise 
than  in  donations  to  enrich  the  priests,  and  aggrandize  the 
church,  and  so  buy  his  peace  with  Heaven. 

William  was  a  very  able  man  for  the  day  in  which  he 
appeared,  whether  as  a  civil  ruler  or  military  chief;  no  doubt 
the  most  capable  and  the  most  successful  monarch  of  that  age. 
But  he  was  a  mere  barbarian,  and  no  history  records  of  him  a 
single  act  of  public  spirit,  humanity,  or  magnanimity.  So  far 
as  can  be  discerned,  in  looking  back  through  the  obscurity  of 
ages,  it  was  a  grievous  and  unmitigated  misfortune  to  the 
Saxon  race,  to  England,  and  to  the  civilized  world,  that  Wil- 
liam the  Conqueror  had  not  been  conquered  and  slain  himself, 
instead  of  Harold,  at  the  battle  of  Hastings. 

William  left  his  Norman  possessions  in  France  to  his  old- 
est son,  Robert,  and  his  kingdom  of  England  to  his  son  Wil- 
liam Rufus,  who  was  crowned  in  1087,  and  is  called,  historic- 
ally, William  II. 

By  the  Norman  conquest,  England  was  assimilated  to  the 
continental  nations  of  France  and  Germany,  in  the  forms  of 
government,  in  policy,  in  religious  duties  and  papal  dominion. 
England  had  also  become  so  connected  with  the  public  meas- 
ures of  France,  that  few  movements,  in  that  country,  were 
without  some  influence,  good  or  evil,  and  generally  the  latter, 
on  its  own  internal  relations.  As  William  divided  his  domin- 
ions among  his  sons,  contentions  soon  arose  among  them,  and 
wars  followed,  in  which  the  monarch  of  England,  for  the 
time,  might  feel  deep  interest,  while  the  people  of  England, 
certainly  the  Saxon  portion,  could  have  nothing  to  gain,  though 
often  visited  by  severe  sufferings  from  these  wars.  The  char- 
acter of  that  age,  from  the  time  of  William's  death  in  1087, 
for  a  century  next  following,  would  lead  us  to  expect  nothing, 
in  historical  details,  but  the  exercise  of  tyrannical  power  on 
the  part  of  kings,  resistance,  and  sometimes  rebellion,  among 
powerful  lords ;    the  continual  encroachment  of  the  Roman 

*  The  word  curfew  is  used  to  denote  this  signal-bell  in  Gray's  well- 
known  Elegy  on  a  church-yard.. 


HENRY    I. STEPHEN.  \)6 

church ;  the  humiliation  and  oppression  of  the  great  mass  of 
the  people.  The  course  of  events  in  England,  for  a  series  of 
years,  presents  nothing  that  is  instructive  in  principle,  nor  any 
thing  in  the  particular  character  or  conduct  of  kings  or  rulers, 
which  is  worth  noticing  in  this  general  view. 

William  Rufus  having  been  accidentally  slain  by  an-  arrow 
from  the  bow  of  one  of  his  companions  while  hunting,  his 
brother  Henry  (called  beau-clerc)  hastened  to  London  and 
caused  himself  to  be  proclaimed  king,  in  1100.  As  his  elder 
brother,  Robert,  in  Normandy,  had  the  better  right,  William 
Rufus  not  having  left  any  child,  Henry  attempted  to  conciliate 
his  subjects  by  some  relaxation  in  severity.  He  abolished  the 
curfeu,  among  other  things.  Henry  reigned  till  1135,  and 
died,  leaving  a  daughter,  Matilda,  who  was  the  wife  of  Henry 
V.,  emperor  of  Germany.  He  lost  his  only  son,  who  was 
passing  from  Norway  to  England,  and  is  said  never  to  have 
been  known  to  smile  afterwards.  What  acquirements  one 
must  have  had  in  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  to 
entitle  him  to  the  surname  of  fine  scholar,  (beau-clerc,)  there 
are  no  means  of  judging. 

Stephen,  the  grandson  of  William,  by  Adela,  the  wife  of  the 
Count  de  Blois  of  France,  aspired  to  the  throne  and  obtained 
it,  to  the  prejudice  of  Matilda,  the  rightful  heir.  Then  fol- 
lowed a  long  and  vindictive  civil  war  between  Stephen  and 
Matilda,  one  of  the  most  afflictive  in  English  annals.  This 
was  one  of  the  deplorable  consequences  of  the  Norman  con- 
quest. The  war  ended  by  compromise.  Stephen  held  the 
throne  till  his  death,  in  1154,  and  was  succeeded  by  Henry, 
the  son  of  Matilda,  by  the  French  Count  of  Anjou,  whom  she 
married  after  the  death  of  the  emperor,  Henry  V.  of  Germany. 
Henry  was  the  sou  of  a  Frenchman,  and  was  educated  in 
France.  He  called  himself  Henry,  Fitz-Empress.*  He  is 
called,  in  history,  Henry  II.  ;  also  Plantagenet,  (the  surname 
of  his  father,  from  his  wearing  a  sprig  of  corn-broom  in  his 
cap,)  the  first  of  the  Plantagenet  kings. 

Henry  wras  the  Duke  of  Normandy,  in  France,  in  right  of 
his  mother,  and  of  the  adjoining  province  of  Maine,  in  right 
of  his  father,  Count  of  Anjou.  He  married  Eleanor  of  Gui- 
enne,  whom  the  French  king,  Louis  VII.,  had  just  divorced 
from  himself,  and  thereby  acquired  the  lordship  of  Poictou,  a 
province  adjoining  and  south  of  Maine,  and  of  Guienne,  a 
province  adjoining  Poictou.     Thus,  Henry  was  feudal  sove- 

*  Fitz  is  an  old  French  word,  meaning  son. 


94  HENRY    II. BECKET. 

reign  of  nearly  one  fifth  of  France,  when  he  claimed  the  Eng- 
lish throne  against  Stephen.  He  was  22  years  of  age  when 
his  reign  began,  in  1 154.  He  died  at  the  age  of  58,  having 
reigned  35  years.  Historians  commend  this  king  for  his  per- 
sonal qualities,  and  his  good  intentions,  as  a  monarch.  Some 
occurrences  deserve  notice.  1.  Henry's  controversy  with 
Thomas  a  Becket.  Becket  was  the  son  (it  is  said)  of  a  Lon- 
don merchant,  and  a  Saracen  lady,  whom  he  met  with  in  Pales- 
tine, and  who  followed  him  to  London.  He  was  educated  at 
Oxford  college,  founded,  it  is  supposed,  by  Alfred.  This  was 
the  time  when  the  popes  of  Rome  were  attempting,  by  every 
means,  fraud,  threats,  superstition,  promises  and  terrors,  to  ex- 
tend their  power  over  the  civilized  world.  The  Norman  princes 
in  England  had  resisted  these  papal  usurpations  as  much  as 
they  dared  to ;  and  submitted  to  the  authority  of  the  Roman 
pontiffs  only  when  their  own  interests  were  promoted  by  the 
submission.  Becket  found  favor  with  Henry,  and  was  honored 
with  civil  and  military  trust.  He  had  become  wealthy,  and 
distinguished  himself  by  his  splendor  of  life.  When  Becket 
was  43  years  of  age,  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury  being 
vacant,  Henry  raised  him  to  that  dignity,  expecting  from  this 
appointment  an  important  aid  in  resisting  papal  encroachment. 
But  Becket  immediately  laid  aside  his  worldly  habits,  devoted 
himself  to  an  extreme  austerity,  and  used  his  office  and  his 
talents  to  strengthen  the  power  of  the  church.  He  soon  gave 
great  offence  to  Henry  in  attempting  to  draw  matters  in  contro- 
versy from  the  civil  to  the  ecclesiastical  authority.  In  short, 
Becket  became  the  devoted  supporter  of  all  the  obnoxious  pre- 
tensions of  the  pope,  and  used  his  talents  and  official  station  to 
subject  Henry,  his  kingdom  and  subjects,  to  the  papal  suprem- 
acy. Henry  fortified  himself  by  convening  a  general  coun- 
cil of  prelates  and  nobles  at  Clarendon,  Jan.  1164.  This  coun- 
cil passed  "  The  Constitutions  of  Clarendon,"  which  defined 
and  circumscribed  the  clerical  and  papal  authority  in  a  manner 
highly  creditable  to  Henry's  good  sense,  as  a  man,  and  as  a 
king.  [Hume,  chap.  VIII.]  Becket  was  compelled  to  sub- 
scribe, and  to  swear  to  submit  to  these  constitutions;  but  re- 
pented of  this  concession  and  obtained  absolution  from  the  pope, 
who  issued  a  bull  to  annul  the  proceedings  at  Clarendon.  Hen- 
ry, giving  way  to  his  resentment,  proceeded  against  Becket 
with  severity,  and  even  injustice.  Becket,  equally  resolute  on 
his  part,  provoked  Henry  to  measures  designed  to  humble  and 
ruin  him ;  and,  to  avoid  this  extremity,  he  withdrew  to  France, 
where  he  was  graciously  received  by  Louis  VII ,  and  pope 


HENRY    II BECKET.  95 

Alexander  III.,  at  that  time  residing  at  Sens,  an  ancient  city, 
60  miles  S.  E.  of  Paris. 

By  the  intervention  of  third  persons,  a  forced  and' insincere 
reconciliation  was  effected,  and  Becket  returned  to  England, 
but  conducted  himself  with  such  insufferable  arrogance,  and 
such  offensive  insolence  in  relation  to  the  king  personally,  as 
to  draw  from  Henry,  who  was  then  in  France,  the  words — 
"  Shall  this  fellow,  who  came  to  court  on  a  lame  horse,  with 
all  his  estate  in  a  wallet  behind  him,  trample  upon  his  king, 
the  royal  family,  and  the  whole  kingdom  ?  Will  none  of  all 
those  lazy,  cowardly  knights,  whom  I  maintain,  deliver  me 
from  this  turbulent  priest?  "  These  expressions  were  under- 
stood by  four  persons,  who  heard  them,  to  be  an  invitation  to 
dispose  of  Becket.  He  was  assassinated  in  the  Cathedral 
church  of  Canterbury,  on  the  29th  of  December,  1170.  [The 
manner  of  his  death  is  stated  by  Mcintosh,  vol.  L  142 — 3.] 

Whether  Henry  desired  the  death  of  Becket  or  not,  he 
cannot  be  considered  as  having  been  a  party  in  this  murder. 
Henry  was  the  most  powerful  monarch  of  that  age;  he  was 
not  disposed  to  submit  to  papal  usurpation  ;  he  appears  to  have 
been  a  man  of  strong  mind,  and  to  have  been  very  decided  in 
supporting  his  own  rights.  Yet,  such  was  the  power  of  the 
pope,  that  Henry  was  obliged  to  pass  a  day  and  a  night  with- 
out food,  at  the  tomb  of  Becket,  and  submit  himself  to  be 
scourged  by  monks.  Among  the  humiliating  terms  of  recon- 
ciliation prescribed  by  the  pope,  was  a  solemn  oath,  that  Henry 
would  engage  in  a  crusade  to  the  holy  land. 

Three  years  after  his  death  Becket  was  canonized.  There 
were  two  volumes  of  records  of  the  miracles  wrought  by  the 
relics  of  this  man;  and  100,000  persons  are  supposed  to  have 
made  a  pilgrimage,  in  a  single  year,  to  the  shrine  of  Becket, 
at  Canterbury.  This  city  is  S.  E.  by  E.  from  London,  about 
50  miles,  and  20  west  from  the  straits  of  Dover;  and  south- 
wardly of  the  Thames.  Among  the  pilgrims  at  Becket's 
shrine,  in  the  year  1179,  was  Louis  VII.,  king  of  France. 
Littleton,  Hume,  Henry  and  Macintosh,  have  discussed  the 
character  of  this  remarkable  person,  in  their  respective  histories 
of  England.  The  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  their  remarks, 
is,  that  Becket  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  talents ;  that  he 
sustained  the  pretensions  of  the  church,  at  first,  through  poli- 
cy, but  soon  became  sincere  and  resolute,  as  the  tendency  of  the 
human  mind  is  to  believe  that  to  be  true,  which  it  desires  to  be 
true. 

The  pilgrimage  to  Canterbury   (which  was  continued   for 


96  HENRY   II. 

centuries)  furnished  Chaucer  with  the  plan  of  writing  a  poem 
of  great  celebrity,  entitled  Canterbury  Tales.  He  imagines 
a  company  to  have  met  at  an  inn,  in  South wark,  on  their  way 
to  the  shrine ;  and  the  tales  recited  by  this  company,  for  their 
own  amusement,  are  supposed  to  be  an  able  delineation  of  pri- 
vate life,  in  the  fourteenth  century. 

The  second  thing  to  be  noticed  in  Henry's  reign  is,  the  con- 
quest of  Ireland,  as  it  is  called,  and  the  annexation  of  that 
island  to  the  dominions  of  the  British  crown.  In  the  sketches 
of  Ireland,  the  causes  and  the  manner  of  this  conquest  have 
been  described,  and  to  these  sketches  we  refer. 

The  third  thing  to  be  mentioned  is  the  attention  which  Hen- 
ry bestowed  on  the  making  and  administering  of  salutary  laws. 
In  every  community  wherein  there  are  intelligent  and  honest 
judges,  authorized  and  employed  to  administer  justice,  systems 
insensibly  arise,  by  which  right  and  wrong  are  ascertained. 
Positive  laws  rather  come  in  aid  of  such  a  system,  than  create 
it.  At  a  great  national  council,  held  at  Nottingham,  in  1177, 
a  most  important  provision  was  made,  and  which  may  have 
been  the  foundation  of  the  judicial  glory  which  has  long  dis- 
tinguished the  government  of  England  from  all  others  in  Eu- 
rope. England  was  then  divided  into  six  circuits,  each  of 
which  was  to  be  visited,  at  stated  times,  by  three  justices  to  hold 
courts.  At  this  time,  also,  attempts  were  made  to  abolish  the 
absurd  customs  of  deciding  right  and  wrong,  truth  and  false- 
hood, guilt  and  innocence,  by  ordeals  of  fire,  and  by  other  modes 
of  bodily  pain.  This  may  be  considered  as  the  period  of  be- 
ginning to  submit  controversies  to  the  judgment  of  juries.  It 
is  believed,  however,  that  trial  by  jury  was  not  unknown  among 
the  Saxons. 

The  fourth  subject  which  deserves  notice  is,  that  the  wars 
which  so  long  distressed  England  and  Scotland  were  prosecuted 
with  great  energy  by  Henry.  William,  then  king  of  Scotland, 
was  taken  prisoner,  and  obtained  his  liberty  on  the  hard  terms 
of  acknowledging  himself  the  vassal  of  Henry,  and  as  holding 
his  kingdom  as  a  feud  of  the  crown  of  England. 

In  the  year  1188,  Henry  yielded  to  the  earnest  solicitation 
of  Pope  Gregory  VIII.  to  engage  in  a  crusade.  The  Sara- 
cens had  taken  Jerusalem,  and  threatened  the  same  fate  to  An- 
tioch.  William,  arch-bishop  of  Tyre,  procured  a  conference 
between  Philip  II.,  (Augustus)  of  France,  and  Henry,  and  it 
was  agreed  to  unite  in  an  expedition  to  the  east.  While  prep- 
arations were  making,  Henry  was  called  to  another  warfare 
from  the  revolt  of  his  son  Richard ;  which,  however  painful, 
was  a  less  afflictive  occupation  than  the  perils  of  a  crusade. 


HENRY    II.  97 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  Henry  married  Eleanor  of  Gu- 
ienne.  This  person  lived  longer  than  Henry  lived,  and  is  rep- 
resented to  have  been  very  able,  and  very  troublesome.  Hen- 
ry had  preferences  for  other  ladies,  who  were  objects  of  mal- 
ice with  Eleanor,  in  the  degree  of  their  superiority  in  attrac- 
tions, over  herself.  "  Fair  Rosamond,"  is  a  tale  founded  in 
some  realities,  but  highly  embellished.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
Rosamond  Clifford,  the  daughter  of  a  gentleman  of  Hereford- 
shire, was  one  of  Henry's  favorites.  Her  fame  for  singular 
beauty  seems  to  have  been  so  thoroughly  established,  as  to 
have  found  its  regular  place  in  history.  It  is  a  fable  naturally 
suggested  by  Rosamond's  loveliness,  Henry's  devotion  to  her, 
and  Eleanor's  malicious  jealousy,  that  Henry  built  for  her  a 
place  of  abode  at  Woodstock,  a  labyrinth  which  could  be  enter- 
ed only  by  the  guidance  of  a  thread,  of  which  he  alone  was 
master.  Yet  Eleanor  is  fabled  to  have  found  her  way  into  the 
labyrinth,  and  to  have  put  an  end  to  Fair  Rosamond.  Other 
accounts  represent  Rosamond  to  have  died  a  natural  death,  and 
to  have  been  buried  in  the  Church  of  Godstow,  opposite  the 
high  altar.  Addison  wrote  an  opera,  founded  on  the  story  of 
Fair  Rosamond,  which  has  served  to  preserve  the  name  of  one 
who  has  little  claim  to  be  remembered. 

The  declining  years  of  Henry  were  far  from  being  such  as 
the  most  intelligent  and  powerful  monarch  of  his  time,  would 
be  thought  to  have  secured  to  himself.  His  three  sons  rebelled 
against  his  authority,  and  sought  to  deprive  him  of  his  domin- 
ions. In  these  measures  they  were  instigated,  counselled,  and 
assisted,  to  the  utmost  of  her  power,  by  "their  mother.  Sir  J. 
Mcintosh,  (His.  of  Eng.)  credits  the  fact  that  she  appeared 
at  the  head  of  the  rebellious  army  of  her  sons,  in  Aquitaine, 
(France,)  and  was  made  prisoner,  in  man's  apparel.  The  dis- 
tresses which  befell  this  king,  more  from  the  undutiful  conduct 
of  the  members  of  his  own  family,  than  from  any  other  cause, 
are  supposed  to  have  hastened  his  death,  which  occurred  at  the 
castle  of  Chinon,  in  Normandy,  on  the  5th  of  July,  1189,  in 
the  35th  year  of  his  reign,  and  the  58th  of  his  age.  Hume 
has  drawn  a  very  favorable  character  of  Henry,  (chap.  IX.)  in 
comparison  with  the  kings  and  distinguished  men  of  that  time. 
The  prominent  events  of  Henry's  reign  have  been  preserved 
and  transmitted  with  sufficient  accuracy  to  enable  us  to  judge 
of  them.  But  this  is  only  a  part  of  that  knowledge  which  is 
desired  of  ancient  times.  How  the  despotism  of  a  powerful 
monarch,  the  superiority  of  nobles  over  the  common  mass  of 
subjects ;  and  how  the  authority  of  the  church,  and  of  the  feu- 
9 


98  AUTHORS — SOCIETY HENRY  II. 

dal  system,  affected  social  life,  as  a  whole,  can  only  be  conjec- 
tured. Very  little  is  known  of  the  rank  which  females  held, 
how  they  were  educated,  what  influence  they  had.  This,  how- 
ever, was  the  age  of  chivalry;  and  also  of  the  crusades.  In 
the  distinct  and  separate  notices  of  the  church,  and  of  the  cru- 
sades there  will  be  opportunity  to  inquire  into  the  private  life 
of  this  age. 

In  the  year  1140  lived  William  of  Malmsbury,  an  English 
historian,  who  is  always  mentioned  with  the  highest  respect. 

In  1152,  Geoffrey,  of  Monmouth,  was  either  the  author  or 
the  translator  of  a  chronicle  or  history  of  the  Britons,  a  work 
abounding  with  fables,  but  sometimes  quoted. 

1180.  Ranulph  de  Glanville,  chief  Justice  of  England,  was 
author  of  a  work  on  the  laws  and  customs  of  England,  a  work 
of  high  authority.  He  is  the  person  who  accompanied  John 
to  Ireland.  He  went  with  Richard  to  Palestine,  and  died  at 
the  seige  of  Acre,  in  1190. 

1190.  Geraldus  Cambrensis,  of  Wales,  is  often  quoted  as  an 
author  of  many  esteemed  historical  works,  though,  according 
to  the  fashion  of  the  day,  marvellous  in  some  facts. 

In  the  same  year,  William,  of  Newburgh,  a  native  of  York- 
shire, is  mentioned  as  the  author  of  a  chronicle;  and  Richard 
Hoveden,  of  Yorkshire,  also,  is  quoted  as  an  historical  writer. 

At  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century,  the  state  of  society  in 
England  was  much  debased,  although  it  was  the  age  of  chiv- 
alry. The  royal  family  and  the  court  were  French.  Henry 
was  the  son  of  a  Frenchman,  his  Queen,  a  French  woman. 
The  Roman  church,  with  all  its  abominations,  had  full  domin- 
ion. Some  monks  complained  to  Henry  that  they  had  been 
deprived  of  three  of  their  daily  dishes.  He  asked  how  many 
remained.  Ten.  He  ordered  seven  to  be  taken  from  the  ten, 
for  that  they  would  then  have  as  many  as  he  had  himself.  It 
was  a  practice,  in  this  reign,  for  companies  of  men,  sometimes 
100,  to  combine  in  London,  to  commit  robberies,  and  other  fel- 
onies, comprising  persons  of  wealth  and  family.  Henry  was 
very  severe  against  these  combinations. 

Henry  revived  a  law  of  his  grandfather,  abolishing  the  right 
of  proprietors  of  lands  to  vessels  and  goods,  in  case  of  wreck 
on  their  shores.  If  any  person,  or  live  creature  were  found 
on  board,  the  property  remained  three  months  to  be  claimed. 
Unclaimed,  it  belonged  to  the  crown.  (Macpherson  on  com- 
merce, vol.  1.  342.)  In  1 176  a  new  bridge  of  stone  was  begun 
alongside  the  old  wooden  bridge,  in  London.  In  1181,  Henry 
prohibited  the  sale  of  British  vessels  to  foreigners,  and  the  em- 


RICHARD    I.  99 

ployment  of  British  sailors  by  foreigners,  a  measure  of  war, 
not  of  commerce.  Copper,  iron,  tin,  lead,  fish,  (herrings  and 
oysters,)  wool,  cheese,  beef,  were  exported,  and  silver  obtained 
from  Germany,  in  return ;  and  cloths  and  linen  from  Flanders. 
Lead  was  used  to  cover  roofs  of  churches,  and  palaces.  Slaves 
were  exported,  especially  to  Ireland.  Wine,  silks,  spices,  jew- 
elry, furs,  woad  were  imported.  There  were  several  manu- 
factories of  cloth  in  England,  in  this  reign,  established  by  the 
aid  of  Flemmings,  who  had  long  been  skilful  in  this  employ- 
ment.    Henry  prohibited  the  use  of  Spanish  wool. 

Instead  of  depending  on  the  feudal  military  force,  inefficient 
and  disorderly,  Henry  imposed  taxes,  and  hired  troops.  He 
relaxed  the  severity  against  the  Jews,  but  they  were  otherwise 
treated  by  his  successors.  The  English  goldsmiths  had  ac- 
quired a  high  reputation  about  this  time.  A  pair  of  candle- 
sticks, made  of  silver  and  gold,  were  presented  by  a  monk  of 
St.  Albans  to  pope  Adrian  IV.  They  were  of  such  exquisite 
workmanship  that  the  pope  consecrated  them  to  St.  Peter. 
(Macpherson,  vol.  1.  p.  348.) 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Richard  1. — Crusade — Jews — Richard's  Imprisonment — His  Death — John — 
Murders  Arthur — Submission  to  the  Pope — Loss  of  French  Provinces-" 
Magna  Charta — John's  Death. 

In  July,  1189,  Richard  I.,  called  Cceur  de  Lion,  (lion-heart- 
ed,) the  second  son  of  Henry  II.,  by  Eleanor,  of  Guienne, 
ascended  the  throne,  being  then  32  years  old.  He  had  been 
invested,  in  the  life-time  of  Henry,  with  the  ducal  sovereignty 
of  Guienne  and  Poitou,  in  France.  He  had  engaged  in  hos- 
tilities against  his  brothers,  who  had  similar  possessions,  and 
also  with  them,  in  rebellions  against  their  father.  The  renown 
of  Richard  as  a  skilful  and  valiant  warrior,  in  the  school  of 
chivalry,  had  procured  for  him  his  surname  of  Cceur  de  Lion, 
or  the  lion-hearted.  His  reign  continued  ten  years,  no  one  of 
which  (says  Mcintosh)  was  passed  in  England.  Nearly  one 
half  of  these  ten  years  were  passed  in  his  crusade  to  Palestine, 
and  most  of  the  other  half  in  wars  with  his  neighbors,  or  re- 
bellious subjects,  in  France.  He  was,  in  truth,  a  Frenchman, 
in  every  respect  but  the  place  of  his  birth.  His  residence  in 
the  south  of  France,  while  young,  had  made  him  familiar  with 


100 


RICHARD    I. 


the  gallantry  which  prevailed  there  among  the  class  of  accom- 
plished men,  who  united  the  professions  of  arms  with  music, 
poetry,  and  love,  under  the  name  of  the  Troubadours. 

As  king  of  England  there  is  very  little  to  be  said  of  Rich- 
ard. As  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  thousands  of 
valiant  knights  who  engaged  in  the  recovery  of  the  holy  land 
from  the  infidels,  the  story  of  Richard  is  interesting,  and  rather 
resembling  the  products  of  fancy,  then  history.  The  proper 
place,  therefore,  for  noticing  Richard  is  in  the  sketches  of  the 
Crusades.  Some  things  should  be  mentioned  in  connection 
with  his  reign  in  England. 

About  the  time  that  Richard  came  to  the  throne,  a  barbarous 
and  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  the  Jews  occurred  throughout 
England.  This  people,  scattered  over  the  world,  and  dealing 
almost  exclusively  in  money,  and  the  most  valuable  merchan- 
dize, and  ministering  every  where  to  luxuries  which  they 
could  enjoy  nothing  of  themselves,  were  subject  to  the  most 
unjust  and  cruel  treatment.  This  slaughter  of  the  Jews  is 
said  to  have  been  ordered  by  Richard.  It  is  also  said,  that  he 
forbade  any  Jews  to  appear  at  his  coronation ;  that  this  order 
was  disobeyed,  and  that  popular  resentment  arose,  soon  ran  in- 
to violence,  extended  over  the  kingdom,  and  ended  in  a  general 
pillage  and  massacre.  A  third  accqunt  is,  that  when  Richard, 
in  his  second  year,  had  resolved  to  go  to  Palestine,  it  was 
deemed  popular  and  pious  to  begin  with  a  robbery  and  slaught- 
er of  the  Jews  ;  and  with  making  a  bonfire  of  the  bonds  and  se- 
curities which  they  held  for  money  lent  by  them,  to  Christians. 

Another  circumstance  should  be  mentioned  to  show  what 
royal  government  was  in  the  days  of  Richard.  In  his  return 
from  Palestine  he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  held  in  Austria,  (as 
will  be  shown  in  another  place,)  at  a  price  of  100,000  marks, 
as  a  ransom.  His  subjects  were  called  on  to  pay  this  sum  in 
money,  equal  to  about  333,333  dollars.  To  pay  this  sum  the 
plate  of  the  churches  and  monasteries  was  taken ;  and  those 
who  had  not  plate  were  required  to  give  up  their  wool,  and 
"England,  from  sea  to  sea,  was  reduced  to  the  utmost  distress." 
This  was  to  buy  the  presence  of  a  man  who  could  do  no  act  so 
useful  to  England,  as  one  which  would  prevent  him  from  ever 
seeing  it  again. 

Richard,  in  attempting  to  subdue  one  of  his  inferior  vassals, 
in  the  French  province  of  Lamousin,  in  the  south  of  France, 
was  wounded,  on  the  24th  of  March,  1199,  by  an  arrow  from 
the  castle  of  Chaluz.  He  soon  after  died  of  this  wound.  The 
qualities  and  abilities  of  Richard  were  not  such  as  to  make  him 


JOHN.  101 

a  serviceable  king.  The  terrors  of  his  name  had  some  ten- 
dency to  repress  the  seditious  and  rebellious  propensities of  the 
age.  In  this  last  scene,  it  is  sail, iKeit:  His 'Tassal/J^eitrand  de 
Gourdon  had  found  a  treasure, «of  which  he  sent  Richard  a  part. 
Richard  claimed  the  wholey  wtyteh  w>a^refs$e|L:\  Soa^'don 
shut  himself  up  in  Chaluz,  and  prepared  for  defence. "  Richard 
having  approached  the  walls  was  wounded  by  an  arrow.  The 
castle  was  afterwards  taken,  and  Gourdon  brought  before  his 
sovereign,  who  then  knew  he  must  soon  die  of  the  wound. 
Being  asked  by  Richard  what  induced  him  to  inflict  a  mortal 
wound,  he  answered^—"  You  killed  my  father  and  my  two 
brothers  with  youy&VTi  hand,  and  you  intended  to  have  hanged 
me.  Inflict  your  severest  torments ;  I  will  bear  them  with 
patience,  since  I  have  been  so  happy  as  to  rid  the  world  of 
such  a  nuisance."  Richard  ordered  Gourdon  to  be  set  at  lib- 
erty. But  Macarde,  unknown  to  Richard,  flayed  Gourdon 
alive,  and  then  hanged  him.  "* 

In  the  last  year  of  Richard's  reign  a  battle  occurred  between 
him  and  Philip  of  France,  at  a  place  called  Treteval,  between 
Chateaudun  and  Vendome,  95  miles  south  of  Paris.  On  this 
occasion  Richard  assumed  the  motto  " Dieu  et  mon  droit"* 
which  has  ever  since  been  used  by  British  kings. 

John,  the  brother  and  successor  of  Richard,  surnamed  Sans- 
terre,  or  Lackland,  was  born  in  1167,  was  32  years  of  age 
when  crowned,  reigned  17  years  and  a  half,  and  died  in  1216, 
at  the  age  of  49.  When  Richard  I.  died,  there  was  living  a 
son  of  Geoffrey,  (next  brother  of  Richard,)  named  Arthur,  a 
youth  of  15;  John  was  next  brother  to  Geoffrey.  Whether 
John  or  Arthur  was  best  entitled  to  the  crown,  was  a  question 
which  was  not  settled  by  law,  or  custom.  John's  memory 
would  be  less  infamous  than  it  is,  if  he  had  merely  assumed 
the  crown,  and  defended  his  possession.  He  not  only  did  this,  a 
but  he  possessed  himself  of  the  person  of  Arthur,  and  put  him  , 
to  death  with  his  own  hand,  and  if  not,  by  the  hand  of  Peter 
de  Mauley. 

When  John  was  crowned,  nearly  all  the  provinces  along  the 
west  coast  of  France,  from  near  Calais  to  and  beyond  Bordeaux, 
in  the  dukedom  of  Guienne,  were  held  by  the  king  of  Eng- 
land ;  but  the  king  of  France  was  the  superior  lord,  according 
to  the  feudal  law;  and  the  king  of  England  was  consequently 
a  vassal  of  the  French  king,  (as  to  the  tenure  of  these  prov- 
inces,) who  was  then  Philip  Augustus,  or  Philip  IL     Philip 

*  God  and  my  right. 


/ 


102 


JOHN. 


supported  Arthur's  claims  because  Constance,  mother  of  Ar- 
thur, was  sister  of  Philip.  To  give  the  greater  importance  to 
Arthur's;  claim,  Phifijf  S a fetd: Arthur  and  Mary,  his  daughter, 
in  marriage.  Arthur  was  hereditary  ,duke  of  Britanny,  in 
right,  of  his.  father,  and  as  such  was  vassal  of  Philip.  John, 
now  king  of  England;  bfe'idg  'charged  with  the  murder  of  Ar- 
thur, the  vassal  of  Philip,  was  summoned,  in  his  character  of 
duke  of  Normandy  and  of  Aquitaine,  (and  consequently  vassal 
of  the  French  King,)  to  appear  before  the  court  of  peers,  at 
Paris,  and  answer  to  this  charge.  In  this  summons,  John  is 
accused  of  having  murdered  a  vassal  of  the  French  king — that 
this  vassal  was  John's  own  nephew,  whom  he  was  bound  to 
protect ;  that  the  murdered  vassal  was  the  son-in-law  of  Philip, 
and  that  Philip  was  bound  to  avenge  the  murder.  John  did 
not  appear,  was  pronounced  contumacious,  and  all  his  prov- 
inces in  France,  but  one,  were  declared  forfeited  to  the  French 
crown.  Thus,  by  this  murder,  John  lost  one  third  of  his  do- 
minions. By  the  death  of  Arthur  the  ducal  sovereignty  of 
the  great  province  of  Brittany  came  to  his  sister  Eleanor. 
John  carried  this  young  princess  with  him  to  England,  and 
shut  her  up  in  a  monastery,  near  Bristol,  where  she  lived  for- 
ty years,  a  prisoner.  (Brittany  was  annexed  to  the  crown  of 
France  in  1532.) 

The  murder  of  Arthur,  and  the  loss  of  all  the  French  prov- 
inces, (but  Guienne,  on  the  Garonne,  which  seems  not  to  have 
been  included,)  added  to  the  general  detestation  felt  by  John's 
subjects  in  England.  Other  causes  arose  to  make  John  one  of 
the  most  contemptible,  as  well  as  odious,  of  all  men  that  ever 
wore  a  crown. 

At  this  time  (1207)  Innocent  III.  was  on  the  papal  throne, 
and  he  was  devoted  to  the  great  purpose  of  subjecting  the  civil 
or  temporal  affairs  of  the  world,  to  the  spiritual  dominion  of 
the  church.  Hitherto  the  encroachments  of  the  church  had 
not  been  so  great  in  England  as  on  the  continent.  Innocent 
III.  ingeniously  brought  himself  into  the  controversy  which 
then  existed  in  England  on  the  question  whether  the  archbish- 
op of  Canterbury  should  be  chosen  by  the  monks  of  St.  Au- 
gustin's  abbey,  in  that  city,  or  by  the  bishops  of  the  province  of 
Kent.  The  monks  would  choose  as  the  pope  ordered ;  the 
bishops  were  subject  to  the  influence  of  the  king.  The  monks 
elected  Stephen  Langton.  John  seized  the  ecclesiastical  posses- 
sions at  Canterbury,  and  turned  the  monks  out.  He  insist- 
ed that  the  election  of  Langton  should  be  annulled.  The 
pope  sustained  Langton.     The  controversy  became  more  and 


JOHN.  103 

more  serious,  until,  at  length,  the  pope  (in  1213)  excommuni- 
cated John,  and  declared  his  subjects  aosolved  from  their  alle- 
giance.* 

The  pope  gave  John's  dominions  to  Philip  Augustus  of 
France,  who  assembled  a  powerful  army  to  take  possession  of 
them.  John  gathered  an  army  on  the  British  coast  to  meet 
the  invasion.  The  pope  was  now  driven  to  other  measures. 
He  perceived  that  it  was  risking  his  supremacy  as  a  spiritual 
ruler,  if  he  left  the  decision  to  the  chance  of  arms.  Availing 
himself  of  John's  weak  points,  he  sent  agents  into  John's 
presence,  who  terrified  him  with  accounts  of  the  military  force 
which  Philip  had  gathered,  the  certainty  of  defeat,  and  the 
horrible  vengeance  of  the  pope.  John  was  at  length  subdued, 
and  entirely  surrendered  himself  to  the  pope's  disposal.  He 
was  required  to  give  up  his  kingdom  to  the  pope  as  his  lord 
and  master,  and  to  receive  it  back  again  as  the  vassal  of  the  pope, 
and  to  hold  it  as  a  fief  or  appendage  of  the  papal  crown.  He 
was  also  required  to  pay,  annually,  as  a  tribute,  seven  hundred 
marks  for  England  and  three  hundred  for  Ireland.  At  Dover, 
on  the  15th  of  May,  1213,  John,  kneeling  before  the  pope's 
legate,  and  having  his  hands  raised  and  clasped,  and  enclosed 
in  the  hands  of  the  legate,  (Pandulph,)  he  solemnly  resigned  his 
kingdom,  his  power,  and  authority  to  the  pope.  The  legate 
retained  the  possession  for  five  days.  John  was  then  reinstated 
in  his  kingdom,  but  only  as  the  vassal  and  dependant  of  the 
holy  Roman  church.  Pandulph  then  hastened  to  Philip  Au- 
gustus, and  warned  him  not  to  interfere  with  the  possessions 
of  John,  who  had  become  a  penitent  and  devout  son  of  the 
representative  of  St.  Peter  on  earth. 

Philip  Augustus  was  much  displeased  with  this  sudden  turn 
in  affairs,  and  disinclined  to  give  up  the  hope  of  subduirjg 
John.  His  arms  were  needed  in  another  quarter.  The  em- 
peror of  Germany,  and  the  earls  of  Flanders,  Boulogne,  and 
others,  in  the  Low  Countries,  united  to  control  the  power  of 
France,  which  they  considered  to  be  growing  too  formidable. 
John  joined  in  this  league  against  France.  He  employed  his 
maritime  force,  consisting  only  of  small  vessels,  against  a 
similar  force  of  the  French  king,  and  was  able  to  destroy 
some  of  them,  capture  others,  and  destroy  the  provisions  and 
military  stores  which  the  French  ships  were  carrying  to  the 
French  king's  army.  This  is  the  first  naval  conflict  between 
these  two  nations,  (1213.) 

*  The  effect  of  an  excommunication  will  be  shown  in  the  notices  of 
the  Church. 


104  MAGNA    CHARTA. 

John  attempted  to  recover  his  lost  provinces  in  France,  but 
was  wholly  unsuccessful.  The  murder  of  Arthur,  the  con- 
temptible submission  to  the  pope,  the  failure  of  his  military- 
attempts,  the  licentiousness  and  odium  of  John's  private  life, 
had  disaffected  all  his  subjects.  Stephen  Langton,  though 
chosen  at  the  pope's  command  to  fill  the  high  office  of  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  proved  to  be  a  man  deeply  interested  in 
the  welfare  of  England.  To  remedy  the  existing  evils,  Lang- 
ton  required  of  John  to  take  an  oath  to  conform,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  his  power,  to  the  laws  of  king  Henry  I.  At  a  meeting 
of  peers  and  prelates  in  August,  1213,  Langton  declared  what 
these  laws  were,  and  how  they  ought  to  be  observed.  From 
this  time  Langton  appears  at  the  head  of  the  reformers  ;  that 
is,  the  confederated  barons,  who  had  determined  to  control  the 
king. 

Numerous  meetings  were  held.  The  confederates  took 
arms,  and  their  party  became  daily  stronger.  Conferences 
were  held  with  the  king.  The  pope  issued  a  bull  in  favor  of 
king  John, — the  dear  son  of  his  holiness, — and  denouncing 
conspiracies  against  his  lawful  authority.  The  king  had 
assembled  whatever  forces  he  could,  and  the  two  parties  ap- 
proached each  other  on  a  plain  called  Runnymede,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Thames,  on  the  15th  of  June,  1215.  The  con- 
federates called  themselves  "  the  army  of  God  and  of  the  Holy 
Church,"  and  were  composed  of  "the  whole  nobility  of  Eng- 
land." Here,  on  the  nineteenth  of  this  month  of  June,  the 
king  signed  the  great  charter,  (Magna  Charta,)  wThich  has 
ever  since  been  regarded  and  honored  as  the  foundation  of 
English  liberties.  Sir  James  Mcintosh  was  of  opinion  that 
this  famous  instrument  was  drawn  up  by  the  same  Stephen 
Langton,  who  was  elected  by  the  Pope's  order  to  the  primacy 
of  England.  By  whomsoever  drawn  up,  it  is  the  foundation 
of  the  constitutional  law  which  afterwards  raised  England  to 
the  highest  rank  among  nations.  Yet,  the  sentiments  and 
principles  of  this  charter  of  liberties  are  not  of  Norman  origin. 
They  came  from  the  Saxons,  probably  from  Alfred  himself, 
and  had  slept  for  ages  under  the  foreign  dominion  of  William's 
descendants.  They  now  re-appeared,  and  wrere  the  more 
precious  from  their  long  absence.  It  is  inconsistent  with  in- 
dispensable brevity,  to  enter  into  a  consideration  of  the  great 
charter.  The  following  summary  from  Sir  William  Black- 
stone  will  show  its  general  purport.  Magna  Charta  is  the 
basis  of  English  laws  and  liberties.  Besides  redressing 
grievances  of  feudal  tenures,  it  protected  the  subject  from 


MAGNA     CHARTA.  105 

divers  abuses  of  the  royal  prerogative.  It  fixed  the  law  of 
forfeiture  for  felony.  It  established  many  private  rights  of  the 
subject.  It  enjoined  uniformity  of  weights  anjd  measures, 
encouraged  commerce,  protected  merchant  strangers,  and  for- 
bade the  alienation  of  lands  in  mortmain.  The  administration 
of  justice  was  provided  for  by  numerous  and  highly  important 
regulations.  And.  lastly,  it  protected  every  individual  in  the 
nation  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  his  life,  his  liberty,  and  his 
property,  unless  declared  to  be  forfeited  by  the  judgment  of 
his  peers,  or  the  law  of  the  land. 

The  purport  of  this  declaration  of  fundamental  rights,  may 
be  further  understood  from  the  eulogy  of  Sir  James  Mcintosh, 
in  his  History  of  England : — "  The  language  of  the  Great 
Charter  is  simple,  brie£  general  without  being  abstract,  and 
expressed  in  terms  of  authority,  not  of  argument ;  yet  com- 
monly so  reasonable  as  to  carry  with  it  the  intrinsic  evidence 
of  its  own  fitness.  It  was  understood  by  the  simplest  of  the 
unlettered  age  for  whom  it  was  intended.  It  was  remembered 
by  them,  and  though  they  did  not  perceive  the  extensive  con- 
sequences which  might  be  derived  from  it,  their  feelings  were 
(however  unconsciously)  exalted  by  its  generality  and  gran- 
deur." 

The  assent  of  John  to  the  charter,  and  even  his  solemn  sig- 
nature and  acknowledgments,  were  no  assurances  that  it  would 
be  regarded  by  him.  The  barons  required  of  him  to  surren- 
der the  city  and  tower  of  London,  as  security  that  he  would 
faithfully  execute  the  charter.  Not  satisfied  with  this,  the 
barons  required  John's  assent,  and  obtained  it,  that  twenty-five 
of  their  number  should  be  guardians  of  the  liberties  of  the 
kingdom,  with  power  to  these  extraordinary  magistrates,  if 
they  saw  any  breach  of  the  charter,  and  if  redress  was  denied 
or  withheld,  to  make  war  on  the  king,  to  seize  his  castles  and 
lands,  and  to  distress  and  annoy  him  in  every  possible  way 
till  justice  was  done,  saving  only  the  person  of  the  king,  the 
person  of  the  queen,  and  the  persons  of  the  royal  progeny. 

Looking  back  on  such  a  scene  as  this,  it  seems  incredible 
that  one  man,  surrounded  by  thousands,  among  all  of  whom 
he  was  the  very  worst,  and  the  enemy  of  all  of  them,  should 
have  a  power  which  all  present  admitted  to  be  greater  than 
their  own,  and  this  power  resting  on  the  mere  accident  of 
his  birth.  Common  sense  would  dictate,  if  John  was  con- 
temptible and  detested  as  a  man,  and  tyrannical  and  odious  as 
a  king,  that  the  proper  course  would  be  to  displace  him,  and 
find  a  proper  person  for  the  exercise  of  royal  authority.     But 


106  HENRY    III. 

in  that  age  of  the  world,  the  authority  of  a  king  was  held  to 
be  an  indispensable  power.  No  authority,  less  potent,  could 
have  controlled  the  discordant  elements  of  society. 

John  attempted,  by  force  of  arms,  afterwards,  to  subdue  his 
barons  and  recover  his  former  position,  and  they,  to  escape 
from  him,  proposed  to  receive  as  king,  Louis,  son  of  the  king 
of  France,  who  came  over,  and  for  a  short  time  was  acknowl- 
edged to  be  king  of  England.  The  residue  of  John's  life 
was  passed  in  these  civil  commotions,  with  hired  auxiliaries 
on  his  part,  and  foreigners  aiding  the  barons.  This  conflict 
was  not  of  long  duration.  John  was  moving  with  his  force 
in  Lincolnshire,  over  the  sands  near  the  sea,  when  a  sudden 
influx  of  the  tide  overwhelmed  his  baggage  and  treasure.  He 
was  then  in  impaired  health,  from  his  unfortunate  condition, 
and  having  become  still  more  impaired,  he  died  at  Newark 
on  the  18th  of  October,  1216. 

John's  improvidence,  follies,  and  necessities,  compelled  him 
to  resort  to  various  modes  of  raising  money.  He  sold  to  Lon- 
don and  several  other  cities,  charters  granting  various  privi- 
leges. He  granted  various  privileges  to  the  Jews,  which  he 
afterwards  shamefully  disregarded.  Macpherson  (vol.  i.  p. 
376)  narrates  several  instances  of  exaction  from  this  unfortu- 
nate class.  He  imposed  the  enormous  tax  on  the  Jews  of 
66,000  marks.  (A  mark  was  two-thirds  of  a  pound  sterling.) 
A  wealthy  Jew  of  Bristol  was  required  to  pay  10,000  marks. 
He  refused.  .  John  ordered  that  a  tooth  should  be  drawn  every 
day  till  he  submitted.  He  lost  seven,  and  on  the  eighth  day 
he  paid.  The  first  notice  of  any  vessels  or  gallies  belonging 
to  a  king,  since  the  time  of  Alfred,  occurs  in  John's  reign. 

However  odious  the  conduct  and  character  of  John  may 
have  been,  the  English  nation  derived  therefrom  permanent 
benefits.  The  principles  of  liberty  were  asserted,  and  the 
foundation  laid  for  the  constitutional  freedom  which  English- 
men have  since  maintained  as  their  birthright. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Henry  III. — Civil  Wars — Confirmation  of  Magna  Charta — First  House 
of  Commons — De  Mountfort — Death  of  Henry  III. — State  of  Society. 

Henry  III.,  son  of  John,  was  born   October    1,    1206; 
crowned  at  the  age  often  years,  October  2,  1216;  reigned 


HENRY    III.  107 

fifty-six  years;  died  November  16,  1272.  At  the  age  of  thirty, 
Henry  married  Eleanor,  daughter  of  Raymond  Berenger, 
Count  of  Provence,  (south  of  France,)  who  survived  him. 
There  were  many  children  of  this  marriage,  and  among  them 
Edward,  surnamed  Longshanks,  afterwards  Edward  I.  Mar- 
garet, born  in  1241,  who  married  Alexander  III.,  king  of 
Scotland.  Edmund,  surnamed  Crouchback,  or  the  lame,  earl 
of  Lancaster.  From  this  person  the  kings  of  the  house  of 
Lancaster  claimed  descent. 

England  was  never  more  miserable  than  during  the  fifty-six 
years  of  Henry's  reign.  The  four  elements  of  English  his- 
tory concurred  to  make  this  misery:  1.  Contention  for  the 
crown.  2.  Wars  in  France,  with  Scotland,  and  with  Wales. 
3.  Ecclesiastical  contentions,  usurpations,  and  tyranny.  4. 
Civil  wars,  in  which  the  insignificance  of  Henry,  and  his  utter 
destitution  of  every  quality  necessary  in  a  king,  permitted  the 
great  barons  to  reduce  government  to  the  simple  element  of 
force  and  violence.  The  persons  who  make  the  most  con- 
spicuous figure  in  Henry's  time  were  these:  1.  The  earl  of 
Pembroke.  This  person  was  regent,  with  general  consent, 
and  had  the  custody  of  the  king's  person.  He  died  in  1220. 
2.  Hubert  de  Bergh  (who  appears  in  a  judicial  as  well  as 
military  capacity)  became  regent.  3.  Simon  de  Mountfort,  a 
Frenchman,  came  over  and  married  Henry's  sister,  Elenora. 
He  was  made  earl  of  Leicester,  and  became  a  very  conspicu- 
ous agent  in  English  affairs.  4.  Richard,  the  brother  of 
Henry,  and  earl  of  Cornwall,  and  elected  king  of  the  Romans. 
5.  Peter  de  Roches,  bishop  of  Winchester,  a  Frenchman  by 
birth,  was  successor  of  de  Bergh,  as  first  minister.  6.  Henry's 
mother,  Isabel,  married,  while  widow  of  John,  the  Count  de 
la  Marche,  and  had  four  sons,  who  appear  in  Henry's  time  in 
public  concerns,  and  especially  as  his  favorites. 

Henry  III.  is  represented  to  have  been  a  weak,  capricious, 
irresolute,  and  perfidious  person,  without  the  relief  of  a  single 
good  quality.  His  niece,  Eleanor,  whom  John  imprisoned, 
was  still  living,  but  does  not  appear  to  have  been  mentioned  as 
a  competitor  for  the  crown.  The  French  prince  Louis  con- 
tinued his  pretensions  with  various  success,  till  the  close  of  the 
following  year,  (1217,)  when  peace  was  made  with  him,  and 
he  withdrew  to  France. 

While  the  virtuous  and  intelligent  Pembroke  was  regent,  a 
revision  of  the  laws  was  made  on  the  forests  and  several  other 
subjects,  and  the  great  charter  was  confirmed,  with  some  omis- 
sions, (supposed  to  be  agreeable  to  the  barons,)  and  divers 


108  HENRY    III. 

conciliatory  measures  were  taken,  that  the  personal  adminis- 
tration of  the  young  king's  government  might  begin  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances.  Unhappily,  Henry  had  no 
capacity  to  avail  himself  of  the  good  wishes  and  prudent  acts 
of  Pembroke. 

In  1231  the  rebellious  nobles  succeeded  in  driving  Hubert 
de  Bergh  from  the  confidence  and  ministry  of  the  king,  and 
he  hardly  escaped  with  his  life.  Hume  calls  him  the  ablest 
and  most  virtuous  minister  that  Henry  ever  possessed.  But 
the  vigor  which  he  used  in  suppressing  the  seditious  and 
rebellious  barons,  (among  whom  may  be  numbered  the  king's 
own  brother,  Richard,  duke  of  Cornwall,)  made  him  unpopu- 
lar, and  the  king  dared  not  to  retain  him. 

Under  the  bishop  of  Winchester,  the  successor  of  de  Bergh, 
the  highest  offices,  in  church  and  state,  were  bestowed  upon 
the  bishop's  countrymen  from  France.  This  favoritism  occa- 
sioned great  dissatisfaction.  But,  in  1236,  the  marriage  of 
Henry  with  a  French  countess,  (of  Province,)  introduced  mul- 
titudes of  hungry  foreigners,  who  became  the  favorites  of  the 
court,  and  sole  objects  of  its  grace  and  bounty.  The  king,  as 
feudal  guardian  of  his  young  vassals,  had  the  right  to  dispose 
of  them  in  marriage.  Young  females  were  invited  from 
France,  and  married  to  young  English  nobles. 

Henry's  subjects  were  further  irritated  and  disgusted  by 
finding  the  power  of  the  Roman  church  so  firmly  established 
as  to  be  able  to  bestow  all  the  rich  offices  in  the  church  on  the 
pope's  Italian  favorites.  The  pope,  Alexander  IV.  (successor 
of  Innocent  III.)  had  influence  enough  with  Henry  to  per- 
suade him  to  embark  in  the  futile  and  costly  project  of  attempt- 
ing to  make  himself  king  of  Sicily.  From  these  and  many 
other  improvident  and  vexatious  measures,  Henry  became  not 
only  much  embarrassed,  but  generally  odious  to  his  subjects. 
To  relieve  himself  from  his  pressing  wants,  he  applied  to  par- 
liament. He  was  answered  that  he  had  repeatedly  broken  his 
solemn  promises,  and  had  little  claim  on  his  English  subjects, 
as  he  had  lavished  all  his  favors  and  benefits  on  foreigners. 
The  only  instance  which  is  recorded  of  Henry's  ability,  is  his 
reply  to  a  deputation  sent  by  the  bishops  in  parliament  to 
remonstrate  on  his  conduct.  The  archbishop  of  Canterbury 
and  the  bishops  of  Winchester,  Salisbury,  and  Carlisle  were 
deputed.  They  complained  to  Henry  of  his  frequent  viola- 
tions of  their  privileges,  of  his  oppressions,  of  uncanonical 
and  forced  elections  to  vacant  dignities.  Henry  is  said,  by 
Hume,  to  have  replied, — "  It  is  true,  I  obtruded  you,  my  lord 


HENRY    HI.  109 

of  Canterbury,  on  your  see.  I  was  obliged  to  employ  both 
entreaties  and  menaces,  my  lord  of  Winchester,  to  have  you 
elected.  My  proceedings,  I  confess,  were  very  irregular  when 
I  raised  you,  my  lords  of  Salisbury  and  Carlisle,  from  the 
lowest  stations  to  your  present  dignities.  I  am  determined, 
henceforth,  to  correct  these  abuses ;  and  it  will  also  become 
you,  in  order  to  make  a  thorough  reformation,  to  resign  your 
benefices,  and  try  to  enter  again  in  a  more  regular  and  canon- 
ical manner." 

On  these,  and  like  remonstrances,  the  king  promised  to 
redress  both  ecclesiastical  and  civil  grievances,  and  parliament 
agreed  to  grant  a  supply,  but  on  condition  of  a  solemn  ratifi- 
cation of  the  great  charter.  All  the  prelates  and  abbots  were 
assembled.  The  great  charter  was  read.  Excommunication 
was  denounced  against  every  one  who  should,  thenceforth, 
violate  this  fundamental  law.  The  ecclesiastics  then  threw 
their  tapers  on  the  ground,  and  exclaimed, — "  May  the  soul  of 
every  one  who  incurs  this  sentence,  so  stink  and  corrupt  in 
hell !  "  This  appears  to  have  been  the  highest  degree  of 
solemnity  in  which  an  obligation  could  be  assumed.  The 
king  was  present,  holding  his  hand  on  his  heart,  and  respond- 
ed,— "So  help  me  God!  I  will  keep  all  these  articles  invio- 
late, as  I  am  a  man,  as  I  am  a  Christian,  as  I  am  a  knight, 
as  I  am  a  king  crowned  and  anointed."  Such  is  the  account 
which  Hume  and  other  historians  give  of  this  transaction, 
which  is  regarded  as  a  voluntary  establishment  of  Magna 
Charta,  and  as  free  from  all  restraint  and  compulsion,  which 
was  sometimes  objected  to  the  original  act  of  king  John.  Sol- 
emn as  this  ratification  was,  it  produced  not  the  least  effect  on 
the  policy  or  conduct  of  the  king. 

Affairs  had  now  come  to  a  crisis.  The  measures  of  the 
king  could  no  longer  be  endured.  Simon  de  Mountfort,  earl 
of  Leicester,  and  who  was  husband  of  the  king's  sister,  formed 
a  combination  among  the  discontented  lords,  and  including 
those  of  the  highest  distinction.  De  Mountfort  was  able  and 
energetic,  in  counsel  and  in  war,  and  the  effect  of  his  measures 
was,  that  when  Henry  came  to  Oxford,  on  the  11th  of  June, 
1258,  to  meet  the  parliament,  and  to  receive  his  grant  of  sup- 
plies, he  found  the  great  barons  there,  in  arms,  and  accompa- 
nied by  their  military  vassals.  The  king  was  compelled  to 
submit  to  whatever  terms  were  imposed.  A  council  of  twenty- 
four  were  selected,  and  de  Mountfort  placed  at  the  head  of  it. 
It  became,  by  successive  steps,  the  actual  and  only  govern- 
ment, exercising  the  power  both  of  king  and  parliament.  In 
10 


110  HENRY   III. 

1264  an  ordinance  was  passed,  to  which  the  king's  consent 
had  been  previously  extorted,  that  the  royal  power  should  be 
exercised  by  a  council  of  nine  persons.  This  council  was  to 
be  chosen  and  removed  by  a  majority  among  three,  who  were 
Leicester  himself,  the  earl  of  Glocester,  and  the  bishop  of 
Chichester.  "  By  this  intricate  plan  of  government,  the 
sceptre  was  really  put  into  Leicester's  hands,  as  he  had  the 
entire  direction  of  the  bishop  of  Chichester,  and  thereby  com- 
manded all  the  resolutions  of  the  council  of  threet  who  could 
appoint  or  discard,  at  pleasure,  every  member  of  the  supreme 
council."     (Hume,  vol.  ii.  p.  92.) 

We  find,  in  the  measures  of  this  council,  the  origin  of  the 
British  parliament.  The  prelates,  barons,  and  knights  had, 
theretofore,  constituted  the  parliament  convened  in  one  body. 
There  was  no  fixed  rule  of  selection.  This  depended  on  the 
will  of  the  king.  The  new  council  ordered  that  four  knights 
should  be  chosen,  by  each  county,  to  attend  parliament,  and 
make  known  grievances.  Also,  that  three  sessions  of  parlia- 
ment should  be  held  in  every  year.  Divers  other  regulations 
were  established.  No  supplies  were  granted  to  the  king,  but 
severe  measures  were  adopted  in  relation  to  foreigners,  and 
especially  towards  the  four  half  brothers  of  the  king,  who 
were  banished  from  the  kingdom. 

This  imperial  council  assumed  an  authority  even  greater 
than  the  king  had  ever  exercised,  and  exacted  an  oath  from 
all,  even  from  the  king's  son,  the  heir  apparent,  to  obey  all 
their  orders,  which,  in  effect,  deposed  the  king.  The  nation 
began  now  to  murmur  against  the  council.  The  ecclesiastics 
found  that  their  power  was  impaired,  and  that  the  council 
assumed  to  rule  the  church  as  well  as  the  state. 

Henry  obtained  from  the  pope  absolution  from  the  oath  he 
had  taken,  and  suddenly  made  proclamation  that  he  had  re- 
sumed the  government  of  his  kingdom.  He  displaced  all 
officers  appointed  by  the  council.  It  was  then  agreed  that  all 
controversies  should  be  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the  king 
of  France,  called  Louis  IX.  and  also  Saint  Louis;  a  man  dis- 
tinguished from  nearly  all  others  of  his  time,  for  his  virtues 
and  ability.  Henry  and  de  Mountfort  went  to  France  for  this 
purpose.  The  judgment  of  Louis  was  not  agreeable  to  the 
barons.  De  Mountfort,  though  he  remained  in  France,  directed 
the  forming  of  a  powerful  combination  in  England,  to  resist 
the  royal  authority,  and,  in  due  time,  came  over  to  put  it  in 
motion.  A  fierce  and  bloody  civil  war  began,  in  which  the 
strength  of  the  country  was  about  equally  divided  between  the 


HENRY    III.  Ill 

royal  party  and  the  barons.  The  latter  were,  at  first,  most 
successful,  and  took  the  king  and  his  son,  prince  Edward, 
prisoners. 

De  Mountfort  now  felt  strong  enough  to  exercise  a  tyrannic- 
al power,  and  entirely  remodelled  the  forms  of  government ; 
and,  among  other  acts,  (doubtless  ignorant  of  the  important 
consequences  of  this  measure,)  he  ordered  that  two  knights 
should  be  returned  from  each  shire,  and  deputies  from  all  the 
boroughs  (or  towns)  to  sit  in  parliament.  This  is  considered 
to  be  the  origin  of  the  House  of  Commons,  in  1265.  De 
Mountfort  had  now  a  parliament  of  his  own  selection  ;  it  had 
elements  of  a  nature  that  he  could  control,  and  he  used  them 
to  crush  all  his  opponents.  But,  as  may  ever  be  expected,  his 
arrogance  and  violence  disgusted  many  of  his  own  party,  and 
a  reaction  began  against  him.  He  still  kept  the  king  a  pris- 
oner, and  carried  him,  wherever  he  went.  Prince  Edward, 
who  was  also  his  prisoner,  was  assisted  to  escape,  and  imme- 
diately placed  himself  at  the  head  of  a  willing  and  competent 
force.  At  this  time,  de  Mountfort  had  been  drawn  to  the  west- 
ern borders  of  the  kingdom  with  his  army,  and  was  on  the 
north-western  side  of  the  Severn,  and  between  it  and  Wales. 
He  crossed  the  river,  and  on  the  6th  of  August,  1265,  prince 
Edward  met  him  at  Evesham,  and  there  defeated  and  slew 
him.  This  was  the  overthrow  of  the  baronial  party.  The 
king  (who  is  said  to  have  been  in  the  front  of  the  battle,  so 
placed  by  de  Mountfort)  resumed  his  authority.  For  that  age 
of  the  world,  an  astonishing  degree  of  clemency  was  exhibited 
by  the  royal  party.  No  blood  flowed  on  the  scaffold,  and  the 
forfeitures  and  fines  were  far  less  than  the  usage  of  that  day 
would  lead  one  to  expect. 

Hume  admits  the  extraordinary  talents  of  Simon  de  Mount- 
fort, earl  of  Leicester,  but  gives  him  no  credit  for  good  motives 
in  his  extraordinary  career  ;  while  Sir  James  Mcintosh  rates 
him  equally  high  as  to  his  abilities,  and  seems  to  ascribe  to 
him  very  commendable  intentions  against  very  unworthy  ad- 
versaries. This  is  a  striking  instance  of  the  doubtfulness  of 
historical  details.  The  same  means  of  judging  were  open  to 
both  these  eminent  historians.  Their  conclusions  partake  of 
the  views  of  the  respective  writers.  The  facts  are  very  im- 
perfectly known.  The  peculiar  characters  of  the  agents  in 
these  scenes,  and  their  motives,  varying  and  changing  under 
the  influence  of  violent  excitements,  can  only  be  conjectured 
on  general  principles  of  human  nature.  And  these  must  be 
judged  of  by  what  this  nature  may  be  supposed  to  have  been 
in  the  most  rude  and  barbarous  times, 


112  STATE    OF   ENGLAND. 

These  bloody  and  costly  conflicts  appear  to  have  imparted 
salutary  lessons  to  all  the  interested  parties.  Henry,  who 
found  himself  to  have  been  restored  to  the  throne  more  by  the 
wisdom  and  bravery  of  his  son  Edward,  than  by  any  other 
causes,  was  probably  influenced  by  the  advice  of  Edward. 
Tranquillity  having  been  restored,  and  there  not  being  any 
apprehension  of  its  being  disturbed,  Edward  gave  way  to  the 
enthusiasm  of  that  age,  assumed  the  cross,  and  departed,  in 
1270,  for  the  Holy  Land.  The  absence  of  Edward  was  a 
removal  of  all  restraint  on  the  bad  passions  of  the  subjects  ; 
and  disorders  and  violence  began  anew  in  different  parts  of  the 
kingdom.  Henry  was  so  sensible  of  his  own  incompetency  to 
rule,  that  he  entreated  his  son  to  return.  Before  that  event 
happened,  Henry  died  (November  16,  1272)  at  St.  Edmonds- 
bury. 

The  character  of  Henry  is  sufficiently  obvious  even  from 
these  brief  sketches.  The  character  of  the  times  can  be 
judged  of  only  by  events.  1.  There  was  very  little  commerce, 
and  the  principal  articles  of  personal  estate  were  cattle,  sheep, 
and  implements  of  husbandry.  2.  There  was  very  little 
money,  and  this  little  belonged  to  the  Jews,  who  loaned  it  at  an 
exorbitant  rate.  Fifty  per  cent,  was  sometimes  paid.  But 
the  Jews  were  severely  dealt  with.  They  were  hated  for 
their  riches,  their  usury,  and  their  religion.  They  were  fined 
with  a  degree  of  extortion  which  exceeded  their  own  usury. 
In  1243,  a  tax  laid  upon  the  Jews  exceeded  all  the  other  rev- 
enues of  the  crown.  3.  Crimes  of  every  description  appear 
to  have  been  common.  Bands  of  robbers  were  found  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  among  them  were  knights  and 
persons  who  were  often  in  the  presence  of  the  king  as  his 
attendants.  4.  The  prelates  and  all  orders  of  ecclesiastics 
appear  to  have  used  their  spiritual  terrors  to  defraud  and  im- 
poverish the  community.  Indeed,  the  extortions  of  the  court 
of  Rome  were  complained  of  in  every  land  in  Christendom. 
A  new  and  most  astonishing  assumption  of  power  on  the  part 
of  the  church,  occurred  about  this  time,  (under  pope  Gregory 
IX.,)  which  will  be  noticed  in  sketches  of  the  church.  5.  Tri- 
als by  ordeal  were  abolished.  6.  The  first  mention  of  coal 
in  England  occurred  in  Henry's  time ;  a  charter  was  granted 
to  dig  at  Newcastle.  7.  Westminster  Abbey  was  ancient  in 
Henry's  time.  He  began  the  rebuilding  of  it.  8.  St.  Paul's, 
said  to  have  been  originally  built  in  610,  was  rebuilt  by  Henry. 
9.  The  Tower  was  begun  by  William  I.  as  a  fortress,  to  aid 
him  in  taking  the  city  of  London.     Wild  beasts  were  first 


STATE    OF   ENGLAND.  113 

kept  there  in  Henry's  time.  10.  Most  of  the  houses  in  Lonr 
don  were  of  wood,  thatched  with  straw.  11.  The  strand  was 
a  long  beach  open  to  the  river.  12.  Westminster  Hall  (built 
by  William  II.)  was  first  used  for  courts  of  law  in  1224. 
13.  Where  St.  James's  palace  stands,  there  was  a  hospital  for 
lepers. 

It  is  difficult  to  form  any  clear  opinion  on  manners,  morals, 
modes  of  life,  and  daily  intercourse.  There  was,  probably,  a 
barbarous  sort  of  splendor  among  the  wealthy,  and  very  hum- 
ble and  dependent  condition  among  the  lower  classes.  Lon- 
don appears  to  have  had  trade  and  commerce,  and  is  spoken 
of  as  a  place  of  very  considerable  riches.  The  Hanse  towns 
are  first  mentioned  about  the  middle  of  this  century.  In  1 267 
a  treaty  was  made  in  England  with  the  merchants  of  Lubeck. 
Hanse  is  thought  (by  Macpherson)  to  mean  a  town  having 
corporate  rights  of  self-government.  There  were  merchants 
from  Lucca,  Florence,  and  Sienna,  settled  in  London,  who 
were  Henry's  creditors  to  a  large  amount.  A  knight,  whose 
lands  produced  ^150  a  year,  was  considered  very  rich.  Flan- 
ders depended  on  wool  from  England  to  carry  on  their  manu- 
facturing. At  the  coronation  of  Edward  there  was  a  great 
display  of  silks  and  stuffs  embroidered  with  gold,  brought 
from  the  Italian  cities.  Edward  I.  hung  two  hundred  and 
eighty  Jews  of  both  sexes,  in  London,  in  one  day.  In  his 
time,  donations  and  conveyances  in  mortmain  were  prohibited ; 
that  is,  the  giving  or  conveying  of  lands  to  perpetual  societies, 
as  monasteries,  abbeys,  nunneries.  The  collection  of  the  cus- 
toms was  frequently  farmed,  or  sold  to  foreign  merchants, 
(Italians,)  to  anticipate  payments.  In  1284  there  were  mer- 
chants from  Norway  in  London.  Robberies  were  frequent 
throughout  England.  In  1292  Roger  Bacon  flourished.  He 
invented  something  very  like  telescopes  and  spectacles.  He 
affirmed  "  that  chariots  may  be  made  to  go  without  horses ; 
that  machines  may  be  made  by  which  men  may  mount  up  in 
the  air  ;  others  by  which  he  may  walk  in  the  bottom  of  the 
sea  j  others  by  which  one  man  may  counteract  the  force  of 
one  thousand."  If  he  had  any  such  knowledge,  he  did  not 
show  how  it  could  be  used.     (Macpherson,  vol.  i.  p.  452.) 


w 


114 


EDWARD    I. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


Edward  I. — Conquest  of  Wales — Wars  with  Scotland — War  with  France 
—  William  Wallace — Internal  Administration— Confirmation  of  Char- 
ters— Commerce — Edward  II. — Battle  of  Bannockburn. 

The  reign  of  Edward  I.,  surnaraed  Longshanks,  is  an 
important  element  in  English  history.  He  was  born  at  Win- 
chester, (sixty-five  miles  south-west  from  London,)  June  17, 
1239;  crowned  November  16,  1272;  died  July  7,  1307,  aged 
sixty-nine,  reigned  thirty-five  years.  He  married  Elenor, 
daughter  of  Ferdinand  III.,  king  of  Castile,  in  1254,  who 
died  in  1290.  His  second  wife  was  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Philip  the  Bold,  king  of  France,  who  survived  him.  His 
marriage  with  Elenor  was  a  case  of  singular  affection  and 
constancy  among  princes.  Elenor  died  in  Lincolnshire,  165 
miles  north  of  London.  Her  remains  were  carried  to  West- 
minster Abbey.  At  the  twelve  resting-places  on  the  way,  mon- 
umental crosses  were  erected,  some  of  which  are  standing  at 
the  present  day.  The  name,  Longshanks,  refers  to  Edward's 
uncommon  length  of  lower  limbs ;  but  this  peculiarity  did  not 
prevent  personal  dignity  nor  corporeal  action,  for  which  he 
was  renowned. 

The  conquest  of  Wales,  and  repeated  attempts  to  subjugate 
Scotland,  and  the  confirmation  of  the  charters  and  laws,  are 
the  principal  events  in  Edward's  reign.  The  baronial  conten- 
tions, the  wars  on  the  continent,  and  ecclesiastical  contentions, 
are  less  prominent  in  this  reign  than  in  several  of  preceding 
time. 

Hume,  Hallam,  and  Mcintosh,  concur  in  opinion  that  the 
consolidation  of  the  elements  of  the  English  constitution  is  to 
be  found  in  this  reign.  The  imbecility  and  perfidy  of  John 
and  Henry  had  made  the  effect  of  their  confirmations  ques- 
tionable. But  the  character  of  Edward  rendered  a  confirma- 
tion by  him  conclusive,  though  even  he  attempted  evasions. 
He  was  the  ablest  man  of  his  time,  whether  in  civil  or  mili- 
tary capacities.  He  was  his  own  minister,  and  had  no  need 
of  any  counsel  but  such  as  was  indispensable  to  carry  his  own 
will  into  effect.  The  character  of  the  age  must  be  his  apology 
for  some  barbarous  deeds. 

Edward  left  England  with  a  high  reputation  when  he  un- 
dertook the  crusade  to  Palestine  at  the  request  of  St.  Louis, 
king  of  France.     His  father  having  died  while  he  was  absent, 


EDWARD    I.  115 

he  returned  leisurely,  having  no  fears  as  to  his  succession, 
and  spent  a  whole  year  in  France.  This  was  the  age  of  chiv- 
alry, and  so  gallant  a  knight  could  command  attention  and 
find  attractions  on  the  continent. 

The  first  measure  of  Edward  was  to  subdue  Wales.  This 
ancient  Celtic  nation  had  preserved  its  original  character  in 
the  mountainous  regions  held  by  them,  from  a  time  beyond 
memory  or  record.  Edward  assumed  that  their  prince,  Le- 
wellyn,  was  his  vassal,  and  summoned  him  to  appear  at  Lon- 
don, and  do  homage  to  his  superior  lord,  and  thereby  acknowl- 
edge the  tenure  of  his  kingdom.  Lewellyn  refused.  Edward 
conquered  him  and  his  country,  and  treated  him  as  a  traitor, 
according  to  the  forms  of  that  barbarous  age.  Lewellyn's 
head  was  severed  from  his  body,  and  exposed  to  the  public 
view  over  the  gates  of  London,  and  the  body  quartered,  and 
portions  of  it  sent  to  different  parts  of  the  kingdom.  There 
is  no  room  for  details  of  this  odious  warfare  against  Wales. 
In  a  word,  it  was  the  exercise  of  force  and  fraud  to  the  utmost, 
against  a  valiant  and  patriotic  people,  defending  to  their  utmost, 
life,  home,  and  all  that  time  had  endeared  and  consecrated. 
Wales  was  finally  subdued  in  1283,  and  has,  ever  since,  been 
part  of  the  English  dominions.  To  reconcile  the  people  of 
Wales  to  English  rule,  Edward  affected  to  give  them  a  native 
ruler,  by  causing  his  queen  to  be  resident  at  Caernarvon  castle, 
when  his  second  son,  Edward,  (who  became  successor,  from 
the  death  of  Alphonso,  the  oldest,)  was  born.  Hence  the  title 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

The  conquest  of  Wales  opened  the  way  to  an  attempt  to 
conquer  Scotland,  and  subject  the  whole  island  to  the  English 
crown.  This  object  engaged  Edward  during  the  residue  of 
his  life,  and  he  closed  his  career  in  his  last  effort  to  accomplish 
it.  There  is  space  only  to  mention  the  events  of  this  long 
struggle,  in  the  order  in  which  they  occurred. 

In  the  sketches  of  Scotland  there  was  occasion  to  observe, 
that  when  the  crown  of  Scotland  fell  to  the  grand-daughter  of 
Alexander  III.,  called  the  Maid  of  Norway,  an  agreement  was 
made  that  this  princess  should  marry  Edward's  son.  This 
agreement  failed  ;  the  Maid  of  Norway  having  died  in  Sep- 
tember, 1290,  on  her  way  to  Scotland,  at  the  age  of  six  years, 
five  of  which  she  had  been  queen  of  Scotland. 

Edward  then  appears  to  have  sought  other  modes  of  subdu- 
ing this  country.  He  endeavored  to  prove  that  Scotland  was 
a  fief  or  appendage  of  the  English  crown.  To  carry  this 
object  into  effect,  he  engaged  in  settling  the  contested  right  to 


116  EDWARD    I. 

the  crown  between  Baliol  and  Bruce.  He  decided  plausibly 
enough  in  favor  of  Baliol,  but  annexing  the  condition,  that  the 
kingdom  of  Scotland  was  held  as  a  fief  of  his  crown.  This 
relation  being  established,  such  servitude  was  exacted  of  John 
Baliol,  the  king,  as  to  force  the  Scots  to  resist.  In  1295,  Ed- 
ward marched  a  powerful  army  into  Scotland  and  took  several 
castles,  penetrating  as  far  as  the  foot  of  the  highlands,  in  the 
valley  of  the  Forth.  John  surrendered  his  crown  to  Edward, 
who  then  moved  to  the  northeast,  as  far  as  Aberdeen,  without 
opposition.  The  ancient  town  of  Scone,  on  the  river  Tay,  dis- 
tant from  Edinburgh  about  35  miles,  northwardly,  was  the 
place  in  which  the  kings  of  Scotland  had  been  immemorially 
crowned.  In  this  ceremony  the  kings  were  seated  on  a  sacred 
stone,  of  which  it  was  believed,  that  wherever  this  stone  was 
placed,  the  Scottish  nation  would  govern.  Edward  carried 
away  this  stone,  and  destroyed  all  he  could  find  of  the  annual 
records  of  Scotland.  He  appointed  governors,  and  departed 
into  England. 

In  1296,  a  war  arose  with  France.  The  French  king,  Philip 
IV.  had  possessed  himself  of  Edward's  province  of  Guienne, 
by  a  policy  not  unlike  that  of  Edward  towards  Scotland.  Ed- 
ward proposed  to  send  an  army  to  Guienne,  under  the  command 
of  Humphrey  Bohan,  Earl  of  Hereford,  then  holding  the  high 
office  of  constable;  and  Roger  Bigod,  earl  of  Norfolk,  the 
mareschal  of  England.*  Meanwhile,  Edward  intended  to  join 
the  duke  of  Flanders,  (then  at  war  with  France,)  on  the  north- 
east, and  make  a  powerful  diversion  in  that  quarter.  The  con- 
stable refused  to  go  on  this  service.  An  altercation  arose,  and 
Edward  said, — "  Sir  Earl,  by  God,  you  shall  either  go  or 
hang."  The  constable  replied, — "  By  God,  Sir  king,  I  will 
neither  go  nor  hang."  The  constable  and  mareschal,  with 
thirty  other  barons,  left  the  presence  of  the  king,  and  the  expe- 
dition to  Guienne  was  given  up.  The  ablest  monarch  who  had 
hitherto  held  the  British  throne,  did  not  think  it  expedient  to 
resent  this  refusal  to  obey.  Other  persons  were  appointed  to 
these  offices.  While  the  king  was  engaged  on  the  continent, 
the  Scots  made  a  new  effort  to  throw  off  the  yoke.  Edward 
made  peace  with  France,  married  the  French  king's  sister 
himself,  and  married  his  son  to  the  French  king's  daughter. 
These  things  done,  he  returned  to  the  great  object  of  his  reign, 
the  conquest  of  Scotland, 

*This  office,  called  afterwards  Earl  Marshal,  was  one  of  high  civil 
distinction,  and  sometimes  this  earl  was  also  a  military  chief. 


EDWARD    I.  117 

At  this  time,  1298,  appeared  the  celebrated  William  Wal- 
lace, who  may  be  considered  as  the  preserver  of  the  indepen- 
dence of  Scotland.  Mcintosh  ranks  him  with  Vasa,  with  the 
two  Williams  of  Orange,  with  Kosiusko,  with  Washington. 
The  rank  of  Wallace  was  only  that  of  knight.  He  was  call- 
ed of  Ellerslie,  in  the  county  of  Renfrewshire,  in  the  south  of 
Scotland. 

Wallace's  magnanimity  and  devotion  to  his  country  ralli- 
ed the  spirit  of  Scotland,  and  under  his  guidance  the  English 
were  again  driven  out.  Edward  being  now  at  peace  with  all 
others,  he  was  able  to  turn  his  whole  force  upon  this  unfortu- 
nate country.  The  gallant  Wallace,  by  an  odious  act  of  per- 
fidy in  his  pretended  friend,  John  Monteith,  was  betrayed  into 
the  power  of  Edward,  who  carried  him  in  chains  to  London, 
and  caused  him  to  be  executed  as  a  traitor,  on  the  23d  of  Au- 
gust, 1305.  Wallace  nobly  answered  to  the  charge  of  treason, 
that  he  was  no  subject  of  Edward,  nor  could  commit  treason 
against  him;  that  his  supposed  crime  was  nothing  else  than 
defending  his  native  land  against  unjust  and  unprovoked  inva- 
sion, undertaken  with  design  to  conquer  it. 

The  spirit  of  Wallace  survived  him.  His  indignant  coun- 
trymen considered  themselves  bound  to  avenge  what  they  re- 
garded as  a  murder.  Robert  Bruce,  (the  grandson  of  the  first 
Robert,)  who  was  a  prisoner  of  Edward,  in  England,  escaped, 
and  eluded  pursuit  by  having  his  horses'  shoes  inverted.  He 
placed  himself  at  the  head  of  his  countrymen,  was  crowned, 
and  the  Scots  once   more  drove  the  English  from  their  land. 

The  exasperated  Edward  gathered  a  powerful  army,  and 
was  leading  it  to  Scotland  to  take  terrifying  vengeance  on  per- 
sons whom  he  assumed  to  regard  as  revolted  subjects,  when  a 
power,  mightier  than  any  that  he  could  exercise,  and  which 
places  kings  and  the  meanest  of  his  subjects  on  equality,  ar- 
rested his  career.  He  died  near  Carlisle,  the  7th  of  July, 
1306.  He  commanded  his  son  to  persevere  in  the  conquest  of 
Scotland.  Knowing  the  terror  which  the  Scots  felt  at  his 
name  and  power,  he  is  said  to  have  ordered  that  his  bones 
should  be  preserved  and  carried  in  the  van  of  the  invading  ar- 
my. Froissart  is  quoted  by  Mcintosh  for  the  reason:  He  be- 
lieved that  as  long  as  his  bones  should  be  carried  against  the 
Scots,  that  people,  never  would  be  victorious.  But  the  succes- 
sor of  Edward  had  not  the  power,  nor  the  will  to  follow  the 
splendid  career  of  his  father. 

By  some  writers  Edward  is  called  the  English  Justinian. 
His  claim  to  be  considered  as  a  law  maker  is  far  superior  to 


118  EDWARD    I. 

that  of  the  Roman  Emperor.  Justinian  sanctioned  the  patient 
labor  of  learned  men,  in  making  one  system  out  of  a  great 
mass  of  materials.  Edward  reformed  errors,  and  created  a 
new  order  of  social  relations,  in  every  department ;  and  especial- 
ly in  the  administration  of  justice.  It  is  well  known  whose 
labor  produced  the  Justinan  code,  and  that  it  was  not  the  empe- 
ror's labor.  It  is  not  known  whose  reforming  and  creative 
hand  was  used  in  Edward's  time.  If  not  his  own,  he  has  the 
merit,  hardly  secondary,  of  having  known  what  hands  to  use, 
and  what  labor  to  approve.  The  conquest  of  Wales  was  ef- 
fected, and  the  attempt  to  conquer  Scotland  was  carried  on  by 
measures  and  means  which  would  be  stamped,  in  the  present 
improved  school  of  ethics,  with  fraud,  perfidy,  and  cruelty. 
The  exercise  of  physical  force,  to  satisfy  the  craving  of  ambi- 
tion, seems  to  have  been  resorted  to,  without  regard  to  right  or 
wrong.  The  law  of  force  was  almost  the  only  law  between 
nations,  and  also  in  the  civil  government  of  kingdoms.  Ed- 
ward used  this  force  without  compunction ;  but  he  did  a  great 
deal  to  make  the  use  of  it  unnecessary,  in  his  own  dominions. 

Edward  wanted  men  and  money  to  conquer  two  extremities 
of  the  island,  Wales  and  Scotland.  The  feudal  system,  now 
falling  into  decay,  could  not  furnish  men  in  sufficient  numbers, 
nor  for  a  time  sufficiently  long.  There  was  hardly  any  regu- 
lar monied  revenue.  Edward  was  driven  sometimes  to  arbi- 
trary measures,  and  sometimes  forced  to  rely  on  the  authority 
of  parliaments  to  aid  him  in  assessing  and  collecting  money. 
There  were  now  some  considerable  boroughs  or  towns  in 
England,  and  London  had  become  a  place  of  wealth  and  popu- 
lation, much  exceeding  any  other  town.  The  great  barons 
could  not  be  made  to  do  any  thing  against  their  will.  Edward 
seems  to  have  been  aware  that  any  coercion  by  the  king,  would 
bring  on,  as  it  had  done  in  former  times,  civil  war.  The  scheme 
of  Stephen  de  Mountfort,  earl  of  Leicester,  in  calling  in  the 
knights,  burgesses,  or  citizens,  to  make  a  part  of  parliament, 
while  Henry  III.  was  on  the  throne,  was  resorted  to  by  Ed- 
ward. His  motives  are  thought  to  have  been  twofold ;  first,  to 
have  a  power  which  could  be  used  to  balance  or  control  that 
of  the  great  barons ;  second,  to  use  these  representatives  of 
shires  and  towns,  to  make  assessments  to  supply  his  wants. 
The  parliament,  so  constituted,  would  concur  in  granting  sup- 
plies, only  on  the  condition  of  confirming  the  great  charter, 
(magna  charta,)  and  the  lesser  charter,  (de  foresta,)and  redress- 
ing grievances.  Edward  reluctantly  and  evasively  complied. 
He  surprised  his  subjects,  by  disclosing  that  he  had  obtained 


EDWARD    I.  119 

from  the  pope  an  absolution  from  the  solemn  promises  he  had 
made.  He  was,  however,  forced  into  a  final  and  irrevocable 
confirmation.  The  establishment  of  the  greater  and  lesser 
charter,  and  the  establishment  of  the  popular  branch,  the  house 
of  commons,  date  from  the  year  1295.  Soon  after,  in  the  next 
reign,  this  house  began  to  sit  separately,  as  an  independent 
branch.* 

The  eminent  worth  of  the  great  charter  was,  that  it  protected 
every  individual  of  the  nation  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  his 
life,  his  liberty,  and  his  property,  unless  declared  to  be  forfeited 
by  the  judgment  of  his  peers,  or  the  law  of  the  land.f 

The  lesser  charter,  de  foresta,  was  called  for  by  the  arbitrary 
exercise  of  power  by  the  Norman  kings,  within  the  immense 
domains  which  they  appropriated  to  their  own  use,  in  hunting. 
Their  laws,  in  these  respects,  were  held  to  be  exceedingly  op- 
pressive. By  this  charter,  limits  were  defined,  and  divers  abuses 
and  perversions  reformed.  The  great  barons  had  their  own 
forests  and  parks,  on  which  the  kings  sometimes  encroached. 
To  make  Edward's  last  confirmations  effectual,  three  knights 
were  chosen  in  every  shire,  for  the  express  purpose  of  prose- 
cuting every  breach  of  either  of  the  charters. 

In  the  administration  of  justice,  the  reformation  effected  by 
Edward  was  so  perfect,  that  it  stood  the  test  of  ages,  and  is  now 
the  basis  of  all  judicial  proceedings  in  the  common  law  courts 
of  England.  This  may  be  seen  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Sir 
M.  Hale's  history  of  the  common  law.  The  reports  of  ad- 
judged cases  commence  at  this  time,  known  to  professional  men 
by  the  name  of  "the  year  books."  Trial  by  jury  was  estab- 
lished, and  all  trials  by  ordeal  abolished. 

Edward  ventured  to  set  bounds  to  the  rapacity  and  the  inso- 
lence of  the  clergy.  Having  demanded  of  them  a  contribu- 
tion which  they  refused  to  pay,  he  directed  that  the  courts  of 
justice  should  be  closed  to  them.  No  complaint,  for  any  cause, 
could  be  heard  from  an  ecclesiastic.  This  proved  to  be  a 
much  more  efficacious  mode  of  excommunication  than  the 
pope  could  exercise.  If  a  monk,  an  abbot,  or  a  bishop  was  as- 
saulted and  robbed,  at  noon-day,  he  had  no  remedy.  The  clergy 
were  glad  to  place  themselves  under  Edward's  protection,  on 
his  own  terms.  This  politic  prince  avoided  a  breach  of  friend- 
ly understanding  with  the  pope  of  Rome,  as  the  interposition 

*  This  is  stated  to  have  occurred  at  an  earlier  period,  also,  1268. 
t  Those  who  desire  to  know  more  of  the  great  charter  are  referred  to 
Sir  W.  Blackstone's  tract,  with  his  introductory  historical  discourse. 


120  EDWARD    I. 

of  his  power  could  sometimes  be  made  useful.  He,  therefore, 
continued  to  pay  the  1000  marks  which  John  bound  himself  to 
pay.  The  amount  was  sometimes  in  arrear,  but  paid  up  when- 
ever an  act  of  the  pope  was  desired. 

Edward  was  the  first  of  the  English  kings  who  und  .1  stood 
the  utility  of  commerce.  He  established  encouragement  and 
protection  both  for  English  and  foreign  merchants.  A  very 
vexatious  and  disorderly  state  of  society  arose  from  the  absence 
of  regular  employment  in  mechanical  arts.  Perhaps  Edward 
perceived  that  society  would  grow  better  as  useful  occupation 
increased,  and  that  this  was  a  motive  in  promoting  commerce. 
Meanwhile  he  authorized  a  commission  to  inquire  into  and  to 
punish  felonies ;  and  the  duties  so  created  were  so  severely  per- 
formed, that  he  was  compelled  to  arrest  its  progress. 

The  barbarous  language  which  the  Normans  introduced  had 
prevailed  in  England  for  two  hundred  and  forty  years.  It  was 
spoken  at  court,  and  used  in  parliament,  and  in  judicial  pro- 
ceedings. But  on  solemn  occasions,  elsewhere,  the  Latin  was 
used;  and  this  was  the  only  language  in  all  written  proceed- 
ings of  the  clergy.  Yet  the  old  Saxon  English  had  not  been 
forgotten,  nor  neglected. 

Edward  II  was  born  25th  of  April,  1284;  became  king  7th 
July,  1307,  aged  23.  He  was  deposed  25th  Jan.,  1327,  and 
murdered  at  Berkely  castle,  in  September  of  the  same  year. 
He  married  Isabella,  daughter  of  Philip  the  fair,  king  of 
France,  who  was  the  mother  of  Edwar4  III.  This  unfortu- 
nate prince  had  no  other  use  for  the  power  and  wealth  which 
the   accident  of  birth  had  given  him,  than  to  gratify  favorites. 

The  events  of  his  reign  turned  entirely  on  his  passionate  at- 
tachment to  a  Gascony  youth,  named  Piers  Gaveston ;  and  af- 
ter this  person  was  very  unceremoniously  put  to  death,  then 
on  Gaveston's  successors  in  favor,  the  family  of  Le  De  Spenser. 
This  exceedingly  weak  and  offensive  conduct  produced  an  in- 
surrection, which  the  queen  Isabella  headed,  and  in  which  the 
first  lords  in  the  kingdom  joined.  The  details  of  this  conten- 
tion would  show  nothing  more  than  the  extreme  folly  of  an  in- 
dividual who  happened  to  be  a  king  on  the  one  hand  ;  and,  on 
the  other,  the  violent  measures  of  his  wife  and  subjects,  to  get 
rid  of  those  whom  he  saw  fit  to  honor,  and  finally,  of  himself. 
He  was  undoubtedly  murdered,  and  it  is  said  by  forcing  a  hot 
iron  into  his  body  through  a  tube,  that  no  external  mark  of  vi- 
olence might  appear.  The  popular  feeling  seems  to  have  gov- 
erned Parliament.  This  assembly  declared  him  to  be  deposed, 
and  connived  at  his  murder. 


EDWARD   II.  121 

In  1314,  Edward  made  one  attempt  to  subdue  Scotland.  He 
led  100,000  men,  and  met  the  king  of  Scotland,  Bruce,  at  Ban- 
nockburn,  who  had  only  30,000  men.  On  the  25th  of  June 
the  battle  was  fought  which  has  its  historical  name  from  that 
placed  *^The  army  of  Edward  was  defeated,  with  an  appalling 
loss  in  killed  and  taken,  besides  the  loss  of  all  the  treasure  of 
the  army.  This  victory  secured  the  independence  of  Scotland, 
which  was  formally  acknowledged  by  treaty. 

Isabella,  the  queen,  made  herself  very  remarkable  by  her 
connexion  with  a  young  Welsh  nobleman,  called  Roger  Mor- 
timer, which  was  asserted  by  her  friends  to  be  only  one  of  po- 
litical character,  arising  out  of  the  peculiar  condition  of  the 
country.  The  ten  years  of  Edward's  reign  are  full  of  remark- 
able vicissitudes  and  adventures,  in  the  lives  of  individuals. 
The  details  may  be  found  in  Hume's  fourteenth  chapter.  None 
of  them  are  important  for  our  present  purpose.  Edward 
III.  succeeded  his  father  before  that  misplaced  individual  was 
put  to  death.  The  course  of  sucession  shows  hitherto,  an  al- 
ternation somewhat  remarkable,  a  powerful  king  succeeded  by 
an  imbecile  one ;  and  he  by  a  powerful  one,  and  he  again  by  a 
weak  one,  in  several  instances. 

The  condition  of  society  in  the  time  of  Edward  II.  is  as 
well  stated  in  Hume's  fourteenth  chapter  as  in  any  other  work. 
It  was  still  an  age  of  barbarism.  It  could  not  have  been  oth- 
erwise. The  whole  landed  property  of  the  country  was  held 
by  great  lords,  who  had,  in  their  retinue,  numerous  dependants, 
ever  ready  to  do  their  will.  England  is  justly  described  by 
one  writer  as  a  multitude  of  little  kingdoms,  and  the  whole 
kingdom  one  great  manor.  The  disorderly  state  of  society  is 
easily  accounted  for,  by  the  fact,  that  there  was  little  of  learn- 
ing, literature,  commerce  or  mechanical  arts,  and  no  religion, 
though  there  was  an  abundance  of  superstition,  and  of  monk- 
ish ceremonies.  A  people  thus  destitute  of  regular  occupation, 
must  have  been  ready,  at  all  times,  for  sedition,  turbulence,  vio- 
lence and  crime.  Famine,  disease,  and  robberies,  added  to  the 
calamities  arising  from  Edward's  incapacity,  and  perversion  of 
power. 

11 


122  EDWARD    III. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Edward  III. — War  with  France — Battle  of  Crecy — Edward,  the  Black 
Prince — Ich  Dien — Order  of  the  Garter — Battle  of  Poictiers — King 
of  France,  captive — Peace  with  France — New  War  with  France — 
Death  of  tlie  Black  Prince — Death  of  Edward  111. 

Edward  III.,  born  on  the  13th  Nov.,  1312,  came  to  the 
crown  on  the  deposition  of  his  father,  on  the  25th  January, 
1327;  reigned  fifty  years,  and  died  on  the  21st  of  June,  1377, 
at  the  age  of  65.  He  married  Philippa,  the  third  daughter  of 
William,  count  of  Hainult,  in  1329.  The  children  of  this 
marriage  were  many,  and  they  will  be  mentioned  in  the  expla- 
nation of  the  table  of  successive  kings.* 

While  Edward's  minority  continued,  Isabella,  his  mother, 
and  Roger  Mortimer,  her  aid,  and  constant  associate  governed 
the  kingdom,  but  in  such  manner  as  to  excite  universal  indig- 
nation. A  conspiracy  was  formed.  The  castle  of  Notting- 
ham was  the  place  of  the  queen's  abode,  and  also  of  Mortimer. 
The  gates  were  locked  every  night,  and  the  keys  carried  to  the 
queen.  But  Sir  William  Eland,  the  governor,  admitted  the 
conspirators  who  were  employed  by  the  revolted  barons;  Mor- 
timer was  hanged,  and  the  queen  reduced  to  private  life.  In 
these  transactions  the  usual  course  of  revenge  and  sacrifice  of 
life  occurred,  and  some  persons  of  high  distinction  were  in- 
volved. Edward  having  taken  the  government  into  his  own 
hands,  his  principal  object,  up  to  the  year  1337,  was  the  con- 
quest of  Scotland,  in  which  he  was  unsuccessful ;  and  equally 
so  in  attempting  to  place  a  pretender  of  the  Baliol  family  on 
the  Scottish  throne. 

In  this  year,  1337,  began  anew  course  of  warfare  between 
France  and  England,  the  consequences  of  which  were  severe- 
ly felt  through  the  next  hundred  years.  Edward  III.  conceiv- 
ed himself  to  be  entitled  to  the  crown  of  France.  If  not,  he 
made  claim  to  it,  as  a  justification  of  his  belligerent  attempt  to- 
obtain  it.  It  has  ever  been  a  principle  in  the  royal  succession 
in  France,  that  a  female  cannot  inherit  the  crown.  This  prin- 
ciple comes  down  from  a  very  early  time,  and  was  adopted  in 
France  from  an  ancient  tribe  called  the  Salian  Franks,  who- 
are  supposed  to  have  come  from  beyond  the  Rhine.  This  ex- 
clusion of  females  is  called  the  salique  law.  When  Louis  X. 
(called  Hutin)  died,  he  had  no  son.  His  brother,  Philip  the 
long,  succeeded  him.     Philip  dying  without  male  issue,  his 

*  See  chap.  XX. 


EDWARD    III.  123 

brother,  Charles  the  fair,  came  to  the  crown.  Isabella,  sister 
of  these  three  kings,  was  Edward's  mother.  He  claimed  the 
crown  as  her  heir.  By  the  salique  law,  Philip  de  Valois, 
cousin  of  these  kings,  was  entitled,  and  was  crowned.  Edward 
formed  divers  alliances  with  dukes  and  princes  in  Flanders, 
and  on  the  Rhine,  to  invade  France  from  that  quarter.  He 
went  over  and  spent  a  great  deal  of  money,  and  wasted  much 
time,  and  accomplished  nothing. 

Edward's  next  plan  was  to  attack  France  through  his  prov- 
ince of  Guienne,  on  the  Garonne,  in  the  South  of 'France.  A 
contest  had  arisen  between  Charles,  of  Blois,  nephew  of  the 
king  of  France,  and  the  count  of  Mountfort,  in  which  each 
of  them  claimed  the  dukedom  of  Brittany.  The  former  was 
sustained  by  the  king  of  France,  who  was  at  this  time  (1342) 
Philip  VI.  Edward  became  the  ally  of  the  latter,  and  landed 
a  powerful  army  in  Brittany.  The  military  events  which  oc- 
curred in  the  next  three  years,  comprise  battles,  sieges,  and  ca- 
lamities, with  varying  success.  Being  in  a  country  where  pro- 
visions were  very  difficult  to  be  had,  either  there  or  from  Eng- 
land, Edward  was  often  in  great  want,  and  was,  at  length, 
compelled  to  retreat,  followed  by  an  army  thrice  as  numerous 
as  his  own,  and  led  on  by  the  king  of  France.  The  course  of 
the  retreat  was  northwardly,  along  the  English  channel,  across 
the  river  Somme,  between  Abbeville  and  the  sea,  and  thence 
in  the  same  course,  and  very  near  the  sea.  Finding  a  battle 
inevitable,  Edward  posted  himself  near  the  village  of  Crecy, 
(probably  8  or  10  miles  north  of  Abbeville,  and  60  south  of 
Calais,)  and  here  w7as  fought  the  memorable  battle  of  that  name, 
on  the  25th  of  August,  1346.  For  the  details  of  this  battle,  the 
15th  chapter  of  Hume  must  be  read.  This  was  the  first  battle, 
in  which  Edward,  the  Black  Prince  (so  called  from  his  armor) 
was  engaged,  and  the  first  in  which  cannon  were  used.  The 
cannon  were  used  only  by  the  English.  Edward  was  then  on- 
ly fifteen  years  of  age.  The  kings  of  France,  of  Bohemia, 
and  of  Majorca,  were  in  this  battle ;  and  the  two  latter  were 
slain;  and  also  1200  French  knights,  1400  gentlemen,  4000 
men  at  arms,  and  30,000  of  inferior  rank.  The  English  lost 
one  esquire,  three  knights,  and  very  few  of  inferior  rank ;  and 
many  prisoners  of  high  rank  were  taken  by  them.  A  remark- 
able fact,  stated  by  Hume,  is  the  presence  of  the  king  of  Bohe- 
mia in  this  battle,  as  he  was  blind  from  old  age.  "  He  ordered 
the  reins  of  his  bridle  to  be  tied  on  each  side,  to  the  horses  of  two 
gentlemen  of  his  train  ;  and  his  dead  body,  and  those  of  his  at- 
tendants, were  afterwards  found  among  the  slain,  with  their 
horses  standing  by  them  in  that  situation."     This  king's  motto 


124  EDWARD    III. 

in  his  armorial  bearings  was  the  two  German  words  Ich  di»n, 
I  serve.  The  Black  Prince,  who  was  then  the  prince  of  Wales, 
adopted  these  words  in  memory  of  the  battle,  which  have  ever 
since  been  used  by  those  of  that  dignity. 

The  result  of  this  long  warfare  was  the  capture  of  Calais, 
after  a  siege  of  nearly  a  whole  year,  which  the  English  retain- 
ed for  centuries.  While  this  warfare  was  going  on,  the  Scots 
renewed  the  war  against  England  on  the  northern  frontier. 
Philippa,  Edward's  queen,  took  the  field,  and  defeated  the  Scots, 
and  took  their  king,  David  Bruce,  prisoner,  and  brought  him 
to  London.  Philippa  appears  to  have  performed  all  the  duties 
of  an  able  general,  except  that  of  being  actually  engaged  in 
battle.  Meanwhile,  Edward  had  taken  Calais,  and  Philippa 
appeared  in  the  festivals  which  that  event  occasioned. 

The  highest  order  of  knighthood  in  England,  that  of  the 
garter,  undoubtedly  originated  at  Calais  in  1349.  Hume  says 
"the  vulgar  story"  that  the  king's  mistress  having  dropped 
her  garter,  he  took  it  up,  and  called  out, — "Ho?ii  soil  que  mal 
y  pense,  (Evil  to  him  who  evil  thinks,)  is  not  supported  by  any 
ancient  authority."  It  may  also  be  added,  that  no  authority,  an- 
cient or  modern,  accounts  for  it,  in  any  other  way.  Mcintosh 
credits  the  commonly  supposed  origin,  and  refers  it  to  the  age 
of  chivalry. 

Edward's  costly  and  fruitless  war  with  France  was  again 
and  again  renewed,  after  truces ;  and  he  attempted  anew  the 
conquest  of  that  country,  by  gathering  a  powerful  force  in  the 
north,  around  Calais,  while  his  son,  the  black  prince,  attempted 
to  penetrate  in  the  south,  from  Guienne  towards  Paris.  In 
1356,  Philip  de  Valois,  king  of  France,  had  been  succeeded 
by  king  John,  a  person  of  great  virtue  and  integrity,  but  not 
equally  distinguished  by  his  talents.  Edward  had  to  encounter 
the  new  king  with  a  host  of  young  and  valiant  nobles.  The 
whole  force  of  Edward  is  supposed  not  to  have  exceeded  twelve 
thousand.  In  the  month  of  September,  of  this  year,  prince 
Edward  had  penetrated  as  far  as  the  southern  banks  of  the 
Loire,  which  is  half  the  distance  from  Bordeaux  to  Paris. 
The  bridges  over  this  river  having  been  broken  down,  and  his 
provisions  failing,  Edward  found  it  necessary  to  retreat  towards 
Bordeaux,  which  he  did  so  leisurely,  that  king  John,  with  an 
army  of  60,000  men,  had  time,  by  forced  marches,  to  overtake 
him. 

This  battle  of  Poictiers  (19th  Sept.,  1356)  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  in  history.  Prince  Edward  was  now  about  26 
years  of  age.     He  was  in  an  enemy's  country,  and  was  re- 


EDWARD    III.  125 

treating  before  an  army  nearly  four  times  more  numerous  than 
his  own,  and  led  on  by  the  king  himself,  having  most  of  the 
noble  spirits,  and  experienced  warriors  of  his  kingdom  to  sup- 
port him.  The  cardinal  of  Perigord  was  with  the  king,  and 
this  prelate  endeavored  to  effect  an  arrangement  which  would 
prevent  a  battle.  Edward  was  so  sensible  of  his  peril,  that  he 
offered,  as  the  price  of  being  permitted  to  retreat,  to  surrender 
all  his  conquests,  and  to  stipulate  not  to  serve  against  France 
for  seven  years.  John  demanded  that  Edward  should  surren- 
der himself  prisoner,  with  a  hundred  of  his  attendants.  Ed- 
ward refused,  and  added,  that  England  should  never  pay  the 
price  of  his  ransom.  Battle  was  now  inevitable,  but  was  de- 
layed till  next  morning. 

'  The  prince  so  posted  his  small  army,  that  it  could  be  ap- 
proached only  through  a  long  and  narrow  lane,  lined  on  both 
sides  by  hedges.  The  French  force  were  attacked  by  the  bow- 
men of  the  prince  from  the  sides  of  the  lane,  having  the  hedges 
for  a  defence.  The  French  experienced  a  destructive  slaught- 
er, and  were  unable  to  do  any  harm  to  their  assailants.  Such 
as  survived  and  passed  through  the  lane,  found  Edward  and 
his  forces  at  the  end  of  it.  Meanwhile  600  men,  whom  Ed- 
ward had  detached,  by  a  circuitous  march  in  the  preceding 
night,  fell  on  the  rear  of  the  French,  in  the  midst  of  the  con- 
flict. One  of  those  sudden  and  irretrievable  misfortunes,  not 
uncommon  as  armies  were  composed  in  the  middle  ages,  be- 
fell John  and  his  followers.  The  unexpected,  and  unaccount- 
able recoil  of  the  French  through  the  lane  upon  their  own 
main  body,  threw  the  whole  into  confusion,  except  the  third  di- 
vision, commanded  by  the  king  in  person.  This,  though  much 
more  numerous  than  the  English  army,  was  attacked,  and  the 
principal  officers  slain,  with  those  who  valiantly  defended  the 
king,  so  that  there  remained  to  the  unfortunate  monarch  no  al- 
ternative but  to  seek  death,  or  to  surrender.  He  was  conducted, 
unhurt,  as  a  prisoner  to  Edward. 

There  is  not,  in  the  whole  range  of  history,  a  case  of  more 
noble  magnanimity,  than  in  the  conduct  of  Edward  towards 
his  fallen  enemy.  John  was  treated  in  the  camp  of  his  conquer- 
or with  all  the  honors  of  royalty,  the  conqueror  himself  as- 
suming no  higher  relation  than  that  of  attendant  on  his  captive. 
A  truce  of  two  years  followed,  and  Edward  conducted  John  to 
London.  While  John,  dressed  "  in  royal  apparel,  was  mount- 
ed on  a  white  steed,"  (as  they  passed  through  the  crowded  streets 
of  the  city,)  the  prince  rode  by  his  side  in  modest  attire,  on  a 
black  palfrey,"  and  some  accounts  say,  with  his  head  uncovered. 
11* 


126 


EDWARD     III. 


John  had  one  miserable  consolation.  He  found  the  king  of 
Scotland  a  prisoner,  for  such  he  had  been  eleven  years,  but 
was  soon  after  released  on  a  promised  ransom  of  one  hundred 
thousand  marks. 

For  some  years  following  these  events,  the  state  of  France 
was  truly  deplorable.  In  the  sketches  of  that  country's  his- 
tory it  will  be  shown  how  such  a  state  of  things  arose. 

Edward  III.,  availing  himself  of  the  internal  disorders  of 
France,  undertook  another  invasion  in  the  autumn  of  1359, 
and  entertained  the  hope  that  he  could  cause  himself  to  be 
crowned  at  Rheims,*  where  that  ceremony  had  always  been 
performed  as  to  kings  of  France.  This  enterprise  failed,  and 
several  causes  concurred  to  bring  about  a  peace,  which  was 
effected  May  8,  1360.  It  is  material  to  notice  here,  that  Ed- 
ward gave  up  certain  provinces  in  the  north,  which  had  been 
long  held  by  kings  of  England,  reserving  Calais  and  some 
territory  around  that  place;  while,  in  the  south  of  France, 
several  provinces  around  Guienne  were  added  to  the  English 
dominions.  But  the  most  material  part  of  the  contract  was, 
that  John  was  to  pay  .£1,500,000  sterling  for  his  ransom. 
John  gave  forty  hostages  for  performance.  But  he  did  not, 
and  could  not  pay  this  enormous  sum.  About  four  years 
afterwards  he  voluntarily  returned  to  England.  On  the  8th  of 
April,  1364,  John,  not  having  been  able  to  redeem  himself, 
died  a  prisoner  at  London. 

Prince  Edward  had  returned  to  the  government  of  his 
provinces  in  the  south  of  France.  In  1367  he  was  induced 
to  engage  in  a  domestic  quarrel  between  Peter,  king  of  Cas- 
tile, surnamed  the  Cruel,  and  his  natural  brother,  Henry  of 
Transtamare.  He  engaged  on  the  side  of  Peter,  and  replaced 
him  on  the  throne ;  but  this  was  an  unprofitable  and  costly 
enterprise,  and  produced  an  insurrection  in  Edward's  own 
dominions,  from  the  burthens  which  he  was  obliged  to  im- 
pose. 

New  quarrels  arose  between  France  and  England,  and 
English  armies  were  again  seen  traversing  the  territories  of 
France.  Edward  the  king  was  now  old,  and  Edward  the 
prince  so  impaired  in  health  as  to  be  incapable  of  any  public 
service.  England  had  become  impatient  under  these  long, 
costly,  and  unprofitable  wars.  The  nation  had  been  gratified 
by  the  splendid  success  of  the  king  and  of  his  son,  as  warriors. 
The  fame  of  England  had  been  elevated  to  a  high  rank ;  but 

*  A  city  90  miles  north-east  of  Paris,  and  190  south-east  of  Calais. 


RICHARD    II.  127 

the  English  people  perceived  that  they  had  purchased  glory 
at  a  great  price,  and  could  retain  it  only  by  cost  still  greater. 
Thus,  a  war  of  thirty-three  years'  duration,  which  had  for  its 
original  object  the  crowning  of  Edward  as  king  of  France, 
ended  by  a  peace  in  1670,  whereby  all  but  Bordeaux,  Bay- 
onne,  and  Calais,  were  given  up  to  France. 

On  the  8th  of  June,  1376,  Edward,  the  Black  Prince,  died, 
in  his  forty-sixth  year.  Edward  was  a  most  extraordinary 
man  for  that  age,  or  for  any  age.  All  historians  of  these  times 
concur  in  ascribing  to  him  a  character  made  up  of  every 
excellence  and  of  every  virtue ;  and  no  one  attributes  to  him, 
on  any  occasion,  a  single  fault  or  blemish. 

The  father,  Edward,  seems  to  have  lived  too  long,  as  his 
excellent  son  seems  to  have  died  too  soon.  In  one  year  after, 
(June,  1377,)  king  Edward  died.  His  end  was  a  mournful 
one.  His  great  purposes,  the  addition  of  Scotland  and  of 
France  to  his  dominions,  had  been  defeated.  Scotland  was 
more  independent  than  ever,  and  nearly  all  had  been  lost  in 
France.  The  nobles,  the  people,  all  England,  were  weary  of 
Edward,  and  Edward  was  weary  of  them.  He  resigned  him- 
self to  the  dominion  of  a  female  named  Alice  Pierce,  whose 
power  was  so  absolute,  as  to  call  for  the  interposition  of  parlia- 
ment, and  the  king  was  obliged  to  remove  her  from  court. 
At  the  last  hour,  Edward  was  deserted  by  all  his  friends,  and 
even  family  connexions ;  in  short,  by  every  one  but  Alice 
Pierce,  who  is  said  to  have  closed  his  eyes  with  one  hand, 
while  she  stole,  with  the  other,  from  his  finger,  the  royal  ring. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Richard,  II. —  War  vrith  Scotland — Wat  Tyler  Insurrection — Richard's 
internal  Administration —  Troubled  state  of  the  Kingdom — Richard  goes 
to  Ireland — Henry  IV.  usurps  the  Crown — Richard  deposed  and  mur- 
dered— Internal  state  of  the  Kingdom — Distinguished  Authors. 

The  reign  of  Richard  II.,  son  of  Edward  the  Black  Prince, 
and  grandson  of  Edward  III.,  began  in  June,  1377,  and  ended 
in  September,  1399.  These  twenty-two  years  were  years  of 
greater  misery  in  England  than  any  equal  space  of  time  dis- 
closes in  English  history.  Richard  was  weak  and  wicked ; 
his  nobles  were  turbulent,  perfidious,  and  ready  for  any  acts, 
however  criminal ;  judges  were  corrupt ;  parliaments  were  the 


128  RICHARD     II. 

submissive  agents  of  the  ruling  faction ;  the  people  were  op- 
pressed and  impotent.  There  was  scarcity  of  food,  and  unusual 
sickness.  Both  Hume  and  Mcintosh  consider  the  materials 
of  history  fewer  and  less  to  be  depended  upon,  in  these  twenty- 
two-  years,  than  at  any  time  since  the  conquest.  The  numer- 
ous crimes  perpetrated  by  those  who  were  contending  for  pow- 
er under  this  imbecile  king,  and  those  committed  by  himself, 
contain  very  little  that  can  come  into  this  brief  summary. 

The  wars  with  Scotland  and  France  were  still  in  being, 
though  not  pursued  with  vigor  by  any  party.  John  of  Gaunt, 
(third  son  of  Edward  III.,)  uncle  of  Richard,  was  regent,  the 
king  being  only  about  eleven  years  old.  But  a  council  of  nine 
were  associated  in  the  regency. 

In  1381,  a  tax  of  three  groats  on  every  head  had  been  laid, 
and  the  collection  of  this  tax  had  been  committed  to  persons 
who  were  interested  to  gather  it.  This  was  (for  other  reasons 
to  be  presently  mentioned)  a  time  of  great  popular  excitement. 
In  the  county  of  Essex  a  tax-gatherer  entered  the  shop  of  a 
mechanic  to  collect  this  tax,  and  demanded  payment,  among 
others,  for  a  daughter,  who  was  present.  The  mechanic  said 
that  the  daughter  was  under  that  age  which  the  statute  had 
fixed  as  taxable.  The  tax-gatherer,  taking  hold  of  the  daugh- 
ter to  produce  indecent  proof  to  the  contrary,  the  father  struck 
him  dead.  A  general  insurrection  followed,  and  spread  over 
many  counties.  The  leaders  assumed  the  names  of  Wat 
Tyler,  Jack  Straw,  Hob  Carter,  and  Tom,  Miller.  This  was 
avowedly  a  war  of  the  lower  classes  against  the  nobility  and 
gentry.  _  _ 

Richard  was  passing  near  Smithfield,  in  London,  when  he 
was  only  sixteen,  and  there  met  Wat  Tyler  at  the  head  of  a 
numerous  body  of  his  associates.  It  is  supposed  that  Wat 
Tyler  intended  personal  violence  to  the  king,  from  some  act 
done  while  talking  with  the  king,  and  therefore  he  was  struck 
down  by  Walworth,  mayor  of  London,  and  instantly  killed. 
Richard's  manly  conduct  on  this  occasion  saved  his  life,  and 
raised  him  greatly  in  the  national  esteem.  The  multitude 
seeing  that  their  leader  had  fallen,  prepared  for  vengeance, 
when  Richard,  ordering  his  attendants  to  halt,  went  alone  to 
Wat  Tyler's  followers  and  said, — "  What  is  the  meaning  of 
this  disorder,  my  good  people  ?  Are  ye  angry  that  ye  have 
lost  your  leader  ?  I  am  your  king ;  1  will  be  your  leader." 
The  multitude,  overawed,  followed  him.  He  led  them  away 
from  the  city  into  the  fields,  and,  meanwhile,  an  armed  force 
had  come  to  sustain  him.     But  he  forbade  any  violence,  and 


RICHARD    II.  129 

ordered  the  mutineers  to  disperse,  with  assurances  that  their 
wrongs  should  be  remedied.  This  seems  to  have  been  the 
only  magnanimous  act  of  Richard's  life. 

The  invasion  of  Scotland  by  Richard,  and  the  attempt  to 
invade  England  by  the  French,  must  be  passed  over.  They 
are  only  the  renewal  of  familiar  scenes.  The  occurrences  in 
the  conducting  of  the  government,  present  only  a  course  of 
events  also  familiar,  and  these  can  only  be  briefly  mentioned. 
The  duke  of  Glocester,  who  was  son  of  Edward  III.,  and 
uncle  of  Richard,  exercised  the  powers  of  regent  in  the  ab- 
sence of  John  of  Gaunt,  an  older  uncle,  who  was  absent, 
vainly  attempting  to  obtain  the  crown  of  Castile,  in  right  of 
his  wife.  Glocester's  dictatorial  and  imperious  temper  gave 
great  offence  to  Richard.  To  free  himself  from  his  uncle, 
Richard  confided  himself  entirely  to  Robert  de  Vere,  an  insin- 
uating youth  of  dissolute  manners,  who  was  then  earl  of  Ox- 
ford, and  whom  Richard  raised  to  the  dignity  of  marquis  of 
Dublin  and  duke  of  Ireland,  titles  before  unknown.  The  king 
could  be  approached  only  through  this  young  man,  and  all 
acts  of  the  king  were  known  through  him.  Michael  de  la 
Pole,  of  humble  origin,  was  made  earl  of  Suffolk,  and  was  in 
high  favor  with  the  king's  favorite.  Meanwhile,  Glocester 
and  his  associates  assumed  to  exercise  all  the  royal  authority. 
The  king  invited  Tresilian,  chief  justice  of  the  king's  bench; 
Belknappe,  chief  justice  of  the  common  pleas;  Cary,  chief 
baron  of  the  exchequer,  and  some  other  eminent  lawyers,  to 
meet  him  at  Nottingham,  where  were  present  also  the  bishops 
of  Durham,  Chichester,  and  Bangor,  and  the  earl  of  Suffolk. 
These  lawyers  certified  that  the  commission  of  regency,  then 
in  force,  was  a  treasonable  usurpation,  and  that  those  who 
assumed  to  execute  that  commission  deserved  death.  All  the 
parties  who  thus  advised  the  king  were  accused  before  parlia- 
ment by  the  regency,  most  of  them  were  condemned  and  exe- 
cuted. 

Notwithstanding  these  measures,  in  1389,  when  Richard 
was  twenty-three  years  old,  he  appears  to  have  thrown  off  his 
subjection,  and  to  have  made  a  truce  of  twenty-five  years  with 
France  and  Scotland,  and  to  have  agreed  to  marry  Isabella, 
(then  seven  years  old,)  daughter  of  the  king  of  France. 

But  increasing  years  did  not  bring  increasing  wisdom  to 
Richard.  He  spent  his  time  in  low  and  frivolous  pursuits, 
and  in  company  with  very  low  persons,  who  could  minister  to 
his  vulgar  propensities.  Richard's  uncle  Glocester,  disgusted 
by  these  things,  spoke  contemptuously  of  Richard  and  of  his 


130  RICHARD    II. 

government,  and  was  preparing  very  serious  measures  against 
him.  Richard,  apprised  of  this  new  combination,  caused  his 
uncle  to  be  arrested  and  hurried  over  to  Calais,  where  Gloces- 
ter  was  undoubtedly  murdered,  by  Richard's  order,  in  the 
year  1398.  Some  others  were  banished,  and  others  pardoned. 
The  residue  of  Richard's  reign,  which  ended  in  September, 
1399,  is  filled  up  with  contentions  and  violence,  either  between 
himself  and  his  nobles,  or  between  themselves.  Of  these 
events  it -is  only  necessary  to  mention  one.  Among  the  mal- 
contents was  Henry,  earl  of  Derby,  the  son  of  John  of  Gaunt, 
duke  of  Lancaster,  uncle  of  the  king.  This  earl  of  Derby 
was  made  duke  of  Hereford,  and,  on  the  death  of  his  father, 
became  duke  of  Lancaster.  He  was  the  son  of  Blanche, 
descended  from  Henry  III.,  as  shown  in  the  explanation  of 
descent  of  the  crown.  While  Henry  was  known  under  the 
name  of  Hereford,  a  controversy  arose  between  him  and  the 
duke  of  Norfolk.  Hereford  said  in  parliament  that  Norfolk 
had  spoken  to  him,  in  a  private  conversation,  of  an  intention 
to  subvert  the  king's  government.  Norfolk  gave  Hereford 
the  lie.  A  time  was  appointed  for  these  parties  to  meet,  in 
presence  of  the  king  at  Coventry,  and  there  to  test  the  truth 
by  the  issue  of  battle.  At  the  moment  of  commencing,  the 
king's  herald  interposed  and  forbade  the  combat.  The  king 
banished  Norfolk  for  life,  and  Hereford  for  four  years.  The 
king  assured  Hereford  that,  in  case  of  any  new  accession  to 
him,  (in  allusion  to  the  dukedom  of  Lancaster,)  his  absence 
should  not  impair  his  right.  Hereford  went  over  to  France. 
John  of  Gaunt  died  in  February,  1399.  Richard  was  afraid 
to  strengthen  the  hands  of  his  cousin  Hereford,  by  permitting 
him  to  succeed  to  the  dukedom  of  Lancaster ;  and,  to  prevent 
it,  and  without  the  least  pretence  of  right,  usurped  that  duke- 
dom to  himself. 

In  the  spring  of  this  year,  1399,  Richard  was  so  ignorant 
of  the  public  disposition  towards  him,  and  also  of  the  exceed- 
ing feebleness  of  his  hold  on  the  royal  authority,  that  he  col- 
lected his  most  effective  force,  and  went  over  to  Ireland,  to 
quell  a  revolt  which  had  arisen  there.  The  new  duke  of 
Lancaster,  availing  himself  of  Richard's  absence,  came  over 
from  France,  with  some  armed  followers,  avowing  his  purpose 
to  be  nothing  more  than  to  possess  himself  of  his  rights  as 
duke  of  Lancaster.  His  presence  proved  to  be  more  welcome 
than  he  expected.  He  soon  found  himself  at  the  head  of  sixty 
thousand  armed  followers.  The  king  hastened  back  from 
Ireland,  but  all  England  was  in  revolt  against  him.     He  was 


HENRY    IV.  131 

taken  prisoner.  A  parliament  was  assembled,  and  he  was 
solemnly  deposed  (as  incompetent  to  govern)  by  act  of  parlia- 
ment. When  this  act  was  passed,  the  duke  of  Lancaster  was 
standing  near  the  empty  throne.  The  following  is  Hume's 
account  (chap,  xvii.)  of  the  manner  in  which  the  duke  trans- 
formed himself  into  a  king.  "  The  duke  stepped  forth,  and 
having  crossed  himself  on  the  forehead  and  on  the  breast,  and 
called  upon  the  name  of  Christ,  he  pronounced  these  words : 
« In  the  name  of  Fadher,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  I,  Henry  of 
Lancaster,  challenge  this  rewme  of  Ynglande  and  the  crown, 
with  all  the  membres  and  the  appurtenances  ;  also  I  that  am 
descendit  by  right  line  of  the  blode  coming  fro  the  gude  king 
Henry  therde,  and  throge  that  right  that  God  of  his  grace 
hath  sent  me,  with  help  of  kyn  and  of  my  frendes  to  recover 
it ;  the  which  rewme  was  in  poynt  to  be  ondone  by  defaut  of 
governance  and  undoing  of  the  gude  lawes.'  "  * 

Henry  (first,  earl  of  Derby,  then  duke  of  Hereford,  then 
duke  of  Lancaster,  son  of  John  of  Gaunt,  duke  of  Lancaster 
and  of  Blanche,  a  descendant  of  Henry  III.)  thus  assumed 
the  crown  of  England  by  the  name  of  Henry  IV.,  the  first  of 
the  house  of  Lancaster. 

The  deposed  king  was  consigned  to  the  care  of  certain 
commissioners,  by  order  of  parliament.  Being  now  a  useless 
and  very  inconvenient  personage,  measures  were  taken  to 
make  him  harmless.  He  is  supposed  to  have  been  treated 
with  great  indignity,  then  with  cruelty,  and,  finally,  to  have 
been  starved  to  death  in  the  castle  of  Pomfret.  Other  accounts 
say  that  Sir  Piers  Exton  and  his  guards  killed  Richard  with 
their  halberts,  at  this  castle.  However  he  came  to  his  death, 
he  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-four,  in  1399,  leaving  no  issue.  It 
will  be  seen,  by  the  explanation  of  the  table  of  succession,  that 
the  next  heir  to  the  throne  was  Edmund,  (then  in  prison,)  son 
of  Roger  Mortimer,  earl  of  Marche,  who  was  the  son  of  Phil- 
ippa,  who  was  daughter  of  Lionel,  duke  of  Clarence,  who  was 
second  son  (John  of  Gaunt  was  the  third)  of  Edward  III. 

The  principles  of  English  liberty  were  understood  by  some 
persons  in  the  last  half  of  the  fourteenth  century,  but  the  con- 
dition of  society  was  such  that  they  could  not  be  carried  into 
effect.  The  provisions  of  the  great  charter  were  recognized 
and  confirmed  more  than  twenty  times  by  Edward  III.  This 
does  not  show  that  these  provisions  had  been  respected,  but 

*  To  understand  this,  the  explanation  of  the  table  of  succession  to  the 
erown  must  be  looked  at.    See  beginning  of  Chapter  XX. 


132  STATE    OF    ENGLAND. 

that  they  had  been  repeatedly  violated.  The  wars  in  which 
Edward  was  continually  engaged  on  the  continent,  compelled 
him  to  find  means  as  he  could.  He  imposed  taxes  in  the  most 
arbitrary  manner,  and  seized  the  shipping  and  goods  of  his 
subjects  for  his  own  use.  Parliament  was  obliged  to  tolerate 
this  despotism  in  the  king,  that  there  might  be  a  power  com- 
petent to  control  the  still  more  arbitrary  will  of  the  nobles. 
Thefts,  robberies,  and  other  aggravated  crimes  were  very  com- 
mon, and  were  connived  at,  if  not  committed  by  the  nobles 
themselves.  The  king  of  Cyprus  having  made  a  visit  to 
England,  he  and  his  train  were  assailed  and  robbed  on  the 
highway,  in  the  day-time,  and  no  redress  could  be  had.  The 
changes  which  had  occurred  in  the  land-tenures  since  the 
feudal  system  was  introduced,  had  made  that  system  almost 
inoperative.  In  the  continental  wars,  which  required  a  much 
longer  time  of  service  than  that  system  allowed,  Edward  had 
to  enlist  men  and  pay  them,  and  encourage  them  with  the  hope 
of  plunder.  Hence  these  wars  were  exceedingly  distressing 
to  the  conquered.  When,  therefore,  Englishmen  go  back  to 
the  time  of  the  Edwards  for  the  principles  of  the  English 
constitution,  it  is  not  to  be  understood  that  these  principles  were 
then  enforced.  When  it  is  said  that  this  was  the  time  in  which 
the  popular  representation  in  the  House  of  Commons  began, 
it  is  not  to  be  understood  that  the  House  of  Commons  did,  or 
could  control  the  arbitrary  character  of  the  government ;  but 
that  this  branch  of  parliament  existed,  and  was  destined  to  be 
formed  into  a  conservative  power.  Up  to  the  end  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  the  English  government  was  still  a  very  bar- 
barous one,  and  its  respective  parts  very  little  adapted  to  operate 
together  for  the  common  security  and  welfare. 

This  was  the  period  when  the  administration  of  justice 
began  to  assume  a  regular  and  systematic  form.  Where  the 
parties  were  disconnected  from  the  government,  justice  was  to 
be  had  as  certainly  as  at  any  subsequent  time.  It  is  some 
evidence  of  the  respect  in  which  the  judicial  tribunals  were 
held,  that,  in  the  thirty-sixth  year  of  Edward  III.  (1363)  the 
pleadings  were  ordered  to  be  in  English,  though  the  language 
spoken  by  courtiers,  around  the  king,  continued  to  be,  for  some 
years  afterwards,  the  old  Norman  French.  The  statute  of 
treason,  which  was  passed  in  Edward's  twenty-fifth  year, 
(1352,)  has  remained  unchanged,  and  was  duly  respected  by 
the  courts  of  law,  but  was  often  disregarded  by  the  parliament, 
down  to  the  time  of  the  revolution  in  1688.  This  statute  pro- 
vides that  no  acts  shall  be  deemed  high  treason  but  these  : 


STATE    OF   ENGLAND.  133 

1.  Conspiring  to  compass  the  death  of  the  king.  2.  Levying 
war  against  the  king.  3.  Adhering  to  the  king's  enemies. 
When,  in  Richard  II.'s  time,  the  faction  of  the  nobles  which 
controlled  parliament,  wished  to  dispose  of  the  faction  which 
surrounded  the  king,  this  statute  was  no  obstacle  to  any  man's 
condemnation ;  nor  were  the  provisions  of  the  great  charter, 
so  often  confirmed  at  the  request  of  parliament,  in  the  least 
degree  regarded  by  that  assembly.  If  the  Englishmen  of 
these  days  were  the  founders  of  what  was  afterwards  known 
as  constitutional  liberty,  they  bestowed  on  other  generations 
blessings  which  they  never  enjoyed  themselves.  Yet,  the 
social  and  political  condition  of  Englishmen  was  better  in  the 
time  of  Richard  and  his  grandfather,  than  that  of  neighboring 
nations.  The  king,  the  lords,  and  the  commons  were,  respec- 
tively, checks  on  each  other,  and  all  three  of  them  were  checks 
on  the  covetousness  and  insolence  of  the  pope  and  prelates. 

In  a  separate  chapter,  on  the  condition  of  the  church,  there 
will  be  occasion  to  remark  on  the  power  and  influence  of  the 
Roman  church  at  this  time.  It  had  one-third  of  the  real  estate 
of  the  kingdom,  and  more  than  one-third  of  the  income. 
There  was  a  great  abundance  of  what  was  called  religion,  but 
no  more  of  the  spirit  and  practice  of  Christianity  than  there 
was  among  the  Celts,  who  inhabited  England  before  Chris- 
tianity was  revealed.  At  this  time  lived  John  Wickliffe ;  born 
in  Yorkshire,  1324,  died  in  1384.  He  is  called  the  morning- 
star  of  the  Reformation.  As  early  as  1375,  at  least  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  years  before  Martin  Luther  was  known,  Wick- 
liffe publicly  accused  the  pope  of  Rome  of  simony,  covetous- 
ness, ambition  and  tyranny,  and  styled  him  Anti-christ.  The 
influence  of  Wickliffe's  writings  may  have  had  some  influence 
in  the  decision  of  parliament,  that  the  one  thousand  marks 
which  king  John  bound  himself  to  pay,  should  be  no  longer 
paid  to  the  pope. 

This  was  the  age  of  Chaucer,  the  first,  in  time,  of  English 
poets,  and  hardly  second  to  any  in  merit.  He  died  in  1400, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  He  was  a  follower  of  Wickliffe, 
and  both  himself  and  Wickliffe  were  protected  by  John  of 
Gaunt,  duke  of  Lancaster.  The  writings  of  Chaucer,  which 
were  exceedingly  popular,  especially  his  Canterbury  tales, 
had  a  great  influence  in  banishing  the  use  of  the  French,  and 
in  restoring  the  ancient  Saxon. 

The  commerce  of  England  was  very  limited.     The  first 
commercial  adventures  to  the  Baltic  and  the  Mediterranean 
are  said  to  have  been  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century 
12 


134  STATE    OF   ENGLAND. 

The  only  exports,  wool,  skins,  hides,  leather,  tin,  butter,  lead ; 
the  imports,  linen,  fine  cloth,  silks,  and  wine.  This  low  con- 
dition of  commerce  is  not  consistent  with  the  degree  of  luxury 
which  is  said  to  have  prevailed.  Silks,  velvet,  and  personal 
ornaments  of  great  value,  were  in  use.  Shoes  were  worn 
with  long  carved  projections  in  front,  and  the  end  of  these 
connected  with,  and  supported  at  the  knee,  by  means  of  gold 
chains  or  silken  strings.  The  extravagant  length  of  these 
shoes  attracted  the  notice  of  parliament,  and  an  act  was  passed 
to  restrict  the  projection  to  four  inches.  Richard's  household 
comprised  ten  thousand  persons,  and  the  number  of  his  cooks 
was  three  hundred.  Sir  John  Arundel  had  fifty-two  suits  of 
cloth  ornamented  with  gold. 

The  architecture  of  these  days  is  surprising,  considering 
the  ignorance  and  general  barbarism  of  the  age.  Windsor 
castle,  erected  by  the  third  Edward,  was  the  noblest  structure 
northwardly  of  the  Alps.  He  ordered  every  county  to  send 
him  a  certain  number  of  workmen,  but  it  does  not  appear 
whether  the  cost  was  thrown  upon  the  counties.  Westminster 
Hall  was  repaired  by  Richard  II.  and  is  still  regarded  as  one 
of  the  grandest  single  rooms  in  the  world.  Mcintosh  speaks 
of  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  the  cathedral  churches  of  this 
age,  and  which  are,  hitherto,  unrivalled.  It  is  probable  that 
these  splendid  structures  wrere  not  of  English  origin,  but  rose 
under  the  influence  of  the  Roman  church.  They  are  called 
Gothic,  as  being  a  different  order  of  building  from  the  Grecian 
and  Roman. 

Before  the  year  1400,  a  new  impulse  had  been  given  to 
learning,  and  thirty  thousand  students  are  said  to  have  been 
gathered  at  Oxford  at  one  time.  Hume  says  they  were  all 
employed  in  learning  bad  Latin,  and  worse  logic.  He  might 
have  added  the  still  worse  employment  of  learning  the  doc- 
trines of  the  church  of  Rome,  under  the  name  of  religion. 
All  learning  was  now  disguised  or  debased  by  the  refinements 
in  logic  introduced  in  the  preceding  century,  by  Thomas 
Aquinas  and  Duns  Scotus. 

Ladies,  before  this  time,  rode  on  horseback,  as  the  other  sex 
do.  Side-saddles  were  now  introduced,  as  ■  used  by  Anne, 
queen  of  Bohemia.  But  it  is  also  said  that  ladies  rode  on 
side-saddles  in  the  time  of  Henry  III. 

Among  the  eminent  men  of  the  fourteenth  century,  were, — 

1330.  Pilatio  Leontius,  of  Thessalonica,  who  was  the  first 
of  those  who  taught  the  Greek  language  in  Italy.  Petrarch 
and  Boccaccio  were  his  pupils,  though  Petrarch  says,  in  onfc 
of  his  letters,  that  he  was  not  a  proficient  in  Greek. 


SUCCESSION    OF    KINGS.  135 

1343.  Francis  Petrarch,  born  at  Arezzo,  near  Florence,  in 
1304,  died  in  1374.  Most  distinguished  by  his  poems  and 
letters. 

1350.  John  Froissart,  a  Frenchman,  born  at  Valenciennes, 
north-east  of  Paris,  near  Belgium,  in  1333.  He  wrote  a 
chronicJe  of  events  in  his  own  time,  now  found  in  several 
editions.  He  is  often  quoted.  One  edition  is  in  four  large, 
thick  octavos.  He  was,  at  one  time,  secretary  to  Edward 
III.'s  queen. 

1359.  John  Boccaccio,  (Boccace,)  an  Italian,  though  born 
in  Paris  in  1313  ;  died  1375  ;  author  of  the  Decameron. 

1380.  Matthew,  of  Westminster,  an  historical  writer. 

1384.  John  WicklirTe,  "the  morning-star  of  the  reforma- 
tion," born  in  1324,  at  the  village  of  WicklirTe  in  Yorkshire ; 
became  an  eminent  theological  writer  and  opponent  of  the 
Roman  church,  died  in  1384. 

1389.  Geoffrey  Chaucer,  born  in  London,  1328;  patronised 
by  John  of  Gaunt ;  author  of  Canterbury  tales.  He  held 
various  lucrative  offices,  and  was  employed  on  foreign  mis- 
sions.    He  was  a  partisan  of  WicklirTe;  died  in  1400. 

1400.  Emanuel  Chrysoloras,  of  Athens ;  fled  into  Italy  on 
the  coming  of  the  Turks  ;  taught  the  belles-lettres  at  Florence, 
Venice,  and  other  Italian  cities ;  a  man  of  eminent  learning. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Henry  IV. — Origin' of  the  two  Roses — Rebellions  against  Henry  IV. — 
Wickliffe  the  Reformer — Henry  V. — Conquests  in  France — Henry   VI. 

The  assumption  of  the  crown  by  Henry  IV.,  the  first  of 
the  Lancastrian  kings,  led  to  the  civil  warfare  usually  called 
the  war  of  the  red  and  white  roses.  The  claims  to  the  throne 
depended  on  heirship,  and  can  only  be  understood  by  stating 
the  succession  of  kings. 

William,  Norman  Conqueror,  1066  to  1087 

William  (Rufus)  II.,  son  of  William,  1087  "  1100 

Henry  I.,  (beau-clerc,)  son  of  William  I.,  1 100  "  1135 

Stephen,  grandson  of  William  I.,  1135  "  1154 

HenryII.,(Plantagenet,)  great-grandson  of  Wm.  1,1 154  "  1189 

Richard  I.,  (Cour-de-Lion,)  son  of  Henry  II.,  1189  "  1199 

John,  (Lackland,)  son  of  Henry  II,  1199  "  1216 


1216  to  1272 

1272  " 

1307 

1307  " 

1327 

1327  " 

1377 

1377  " 

1400 

1400  « 

1413 

1413  " 

1422 

1422  " 

1471 

1471  " 

1483 

1483  " 

1483 

1483  " 

1485 

1485  M 

1509 

136  THE    TWO    ROSES, 

Henry  III.,  son  of  John, 

Edward  I.,  (Longshanks,)  son  of  Henry  III., 

Edward  II.,  (Prince  of  Wales,)  son  of  Edw.  I., 

Edward  III.,  son  of  Edward  II., 

Richard  II.,  son  of  Edward  the  Black  Prince, 

and  grandson  of  Edward  III., 
Henry  IV.,  first  of  Lancastrian  kings, 
Henry  V.,  son  of  Henry  IV., 
Henry  VI.,  son  of  Henry  V., 
Edward  IV.,  first  king  of  the  house  of  York, 
Edward  V.,  son  of  Edward  IV.,  never  crowned, 
Richard  III.,  brother  of  Edward  IV., 
Henry  VII.,  first  king  of  the  house  of  Tudor, 

The  Red  Rose.  Henry  IV.,  who  usurped  the  crown  when 
Richard  II.  was  deposed,  in  1389,  went  far  back  to  found  his 
right.  He  pretended  that  Henry  III.,  who  died  in  1272,  had 
a  son  older  than  Edward  I.,  named  Edmund,  and  who  was 
thrust  aside  on  account  of  his  personal  deformity,  to  make  way 
for  Edward  I.  He  thus  traced  his  descent:  Edmund  the 
Lame,  duke  of  Lancaster,  and  oldest  son,  in  fact,  of  Henry 
III.,  had  a  son  named  Henry ;  and  this  Henry  had  a  son  of 
the  same  name,  who  was  father  of  the  princess  Blanche. 
Blanche  married  John  of  Gaunt,  duke  of  Lancaster,  third  son 
of  Edward  III.  John  of  Gaunt  died  the  same  year  that 
Richard  II.  was  deposed,  (1399,)  leaving  a  son  Henry  by 
Blanche :  that  this  Henry  was  the  heir  to  the  crown  as  the 
lineal  descendant  of  Edmund  the  Lame,  the  (pretended)  oldest 
son  of  Henry  III. :  that,  being  himself  this  Henry,  the  son  of 
Blanche,  he  was  entitled  to  the  crown,  and  he  assumed  it 
under  the  name  of  Henry  IV.  His  emblem  was  the  red  rose. 
There  is  no  foundation  for  the  assumed  fact,  that  Edmund  the 
Lame  was  the  oldest  son  of  Henry  III. ;  and,  therefore,  Henry 
IV.  was  an  usurper.  He  and  his  successors,  Henry  V.  and 
Henry  VI.,  held  the  throne  seventy-three  years,  till  1472, 
when  Edward  IV.  obtained  it. 

The  White  Rose.  Edward  III.,  who  died  in  1377,  had  four 
sons  :  1.  Edward  the  Black  Prince.  He  died  one  year  before 
his  father,  leaving  a  son,  Richard  II.  2.  Lionel,  duke  of 
Clarence.  He  died  nine  years  before  his  father,  leaving  Phi- 
lippa,  a  daughter,  who  married  Mortimer,  earl  of  March. 
They  had  a  son,  Roger  Mortimer,  earl  of  March,  presumptive 
heir  of  the  crown,  on  failure  of  the  issue  of  Edward  the 


THE    TWO    ROSES.  137 

Black  Prince.  3.  John  of  Gaunt,  duke  of  Lancaster.  4. 
Edmund,  duke  of  York.  When  Richard  II.  died,  Roger 
Mortimer  was  true  heir  to  the  crown,  as  Richard  had  no  child. 
Henry  IV.  usurped  the  crown  to  the  exclusion  of  Roger.  On 
the  decease  of  Roger,  without  issue,  his  sister  Ann  was  heir- 
ess, claiming  under  Lionel,  duke  of  Clarence,  second  son  of 
Edward  III.  Ann  married  Richard,  duke  of  Cambridge, 
who  was  son  of  Edmund,  duke  of  York,  fourth  son  of  Ed- 
ward III.  Their  son  was  Richard,  duke  of  York,  who  was 
entitled  to  the  crown  through  his  mother,  Ann,  heiress  of  the 
house  of  Clarence.  Richard's  son  Edward,  duke  ofYork,  as- 
serted this  right  on  the  dethronement  of  Henry  VI.,  and  caused 
himself  to  be  crowned  as  Edward  IV.  His  emblem  was  the 
white  rose.  If  the  crown  had  descended  to  him  without  the 
Lancastrian  usurpation  having  intervened,  he  would  have 
been  rightfully  on  the  throne.  But  the  three  Henrys  having 
had  the  crown  for  seventy-three  years,  with  the  consent  of  the 
nation,  the  house  of  Lancaster  had  acquired  a  prescriptive 
right,  at  least,  if  time  can  ever  give  it.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  original  right  of  Edward  IV.,  he  may  be  considered 
as  having  lost  it,  and  there  was  ground  for  regarding  him  as 
an  usurper.  The  pretensions  of  both  were  questionable,  and 
divided  the  nation  into  two  nearly  equal  parties ;  the  one  main- 
taining that  the  house  of  York,  the  other  that  the  house  of 
Lancaster  was  entitled. 

Edward  IV.  (white  rose)  died  in  1483,  leaving  Edward  and 
Richard,  both  very  young,  and  a  daughter,  Elizabeth.  Rich- 
ard, duke  of  Glocester,  murdered  the  two  sons,  his  nephews, 
and  assumed  the  crown  as  Richard  III.  At  this  time,  Rich- 
ard and  Elizabeth  were  the  only  remnants  of  the  house  of 
York.  If  her  father,  Edward  IV.,  was  entitled  to  the  crown, 
Elizabeth  was  the  lawful  heiress. 

Henry  VI.,  the  last  of  the  Lancastrian  kings,  had  an  only 
son,  whom  Edward  IV.  caused  to  be  killed.  He  was  a  youth, 
and  left  no  child.  A  claimant  of  that  house  appeared  in  Henry, 
earl  of  Richmond,  who  thus  derived  his  descent :  The  com- 
mon ancestor  of  himself  and  of  Henry  VI.  was  John  of  Gaunt, 
duke  of  Lancaster,  son  of  Edward  III.  The  descent  through 
John  of  Gaunt's  son  Henry,  having  ended  in  the  son  of  Henry 
VI.,  the  descendants  of  John's  next  son  were  entitled.  He 
Was  a  legitimated  son,  John  of  Beaufort,  who  was  made  capa- 
ble of  inheriting  in  1410.  John  of  Beaufort  had  a  son  John, 
duke  of  Somerset,  whose  daughter  Margaret  married,  1.  John 
de  la  Pole.  2.  Edmund  Tudor.  3.  Thomas  Stanley.  Henry, 
12* 


138  HENRY    IV. 

earl  of  Richmond,  was  the  son  of  Edmund  Tudor  and  Mar- 
garet, and  claimed  to  be  heir  to  the  crown  under  John  of 
Beaufort,  son  of  John  of  Gaunt,  duke  of  Lancaster.  When 
Richard  III.  had  crowned  himself,  Henry  appeared  as  claim- 
ant, the  last  of  the  red  rose.  Their  pretensions  were  settled 
on  the  23d  of  August,  1485,  at  the  battle  of  Bosworth.  Rich- 
ard was  slain,  and  Henry  proclaimed  as  Henry  VII.,  the  first 
of  the  house  of  Tudor.  Henry  reluctantly  married  Elizabeth, 
the  daughter  of  Edward  IV.,  who  was  the  last  of  the  white 
rose.  The  two  roses  were  blended  in  Henry  VIII.,  issue  of 
that  marriage.* 

This  statement  of  claims  may  explain  the  desolating  wars 
of  the  two  roses,  which  are  next  to  be  considered. 

Henry  IV.,  the  first  of  the  Lancastrians,  came  to  the  crown 
under  circumstances  well  adapted  to  make  it  an  uncomfortable 
weight  upon  his  brow.  Young  Mortimer,  the  true  heir,  was 
still  alive,  though  in  prison.  Richard  II.  had  been  deposed  and 
had  been  murdered,  at  least  with  the  approbation  of  Henry  IV., 
if  not  by  his  command.  The  great  lords  were  much  divided 
in  opinion  ;  some  of  them  in  favor  of  this  usurpation,  and 
some  irreconcileably  opposed.  The  whole  of  Henry's  reign 
(which  began  when  he  was  thirty-two  years  old,  in  1399, 
1400,  and  ended  in  1413,  when  he  was  forty-six)  was  passed 
in  struggles  to  keep  himself  on  the  throne.  At  the  first  par- 
liament, the  peers  broke  out  in  violent  animosities ;  forty 
gauntlets  were  thrown  on  the  floor,  and  liar  and  traitor  re- 
sounded through  the  hall.  A  combination  was  formed  almost 
immediately  after  the  coronation,  and  an  attempt  made  to  sur- 
prise and  capture  Henry  at  Windsor  Castle.  Civil  war 
ensued,  and  noble  heads  began  to  fall  under  the  hand  of  the 
executioner.  Very  disgraceful  scenes  occurred,  which  may 
be  so  readily  imagined  from  what  has  already  been  seen  of 
English  history  as  to  make  it  unnecessary  to  state  them. 

Henry  sought  to  strengthen  himself  by  courting  the  church. 
For  the  first  time,  in  England,  (1401,)  the  civil  power  was 
yielded  to  the  ecclesiastics,  to  carry  their  sentences  into  effect. 
William  Sautre,  rector  of  a  church  in  London,  was  the  first 
Englishman  burnt  at  the  stake  for  religious  opinions.  The 
French  had  taken  great  offence  at  the  murder  of  Richard  II., 
he  having  been  affianced  to  a  French  princess  at  the  time  of 

*  Edmund  Tudor's  father  was  Owen  Tudor,  of  an  ancient  Welsh 
family  t  and  his  mother  was  Catherine  of  France,  widow  of  Henry  V. 


HENRY    IV.  139 

his  decease,  though  she  was  then  only  six  years  of  age. 
Owen  Glendour,  of  Wales,  favored  the  cause  of  Richard,  and 
rose  in  arms.  The  Scots,  taking  advantage  of  the  troubled 
state  of  England,  renewed  their  invasion.  The  celebrated 
family  of  Piercy,  having  the  earl  of  Northumberland  for  its 
chief,  had  rendered  essential  service  to  Henry  IV.  As  usual, 
in  estimating  debts  of  gratitude,  the  parties  disagreed,  and  the 
Piercys,  with  their  numerous  and  powerful  connexions,  ap- 
peared as  rebels.  Between  these  rebels  and  Henry,  on  the 
21st  of  July,  1403,  was  fought  the  battle  of  Shrewsbury,  (one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  north-west  from  London,  on  the  bor- 
ders of  Wales.)  Perhaps  no  conflict  ever  occurred,  which 
better  deserves  the  name  of  battle.  There  were  about  twelve 
thousand  on  a  side.  They  were  of  the  same  nation,  armed 
alike,  hostile  to  the  highest  degree,  and  contending  for  every 
thing  most  valued  on  both  sides.  The  fall  of  the  famous 
Harry  Piercy  decided  the  fortune  of  the  day.  Henry  was 
conqueror.  The  usual  consequences  of  victory  followed : 
Public  execution  of  rebels,  and  forfeiture  of  estates  and  titles 
of  nobility. 

In  1405,  and  in  1407,  Henry  had  similar  scenes  to  go 
through  to  maintain  himself  on  the  throne;  and  he  at  length 
succeeded  in  subduing  his  domestic  enemies.  In  this  latter 
year,  the  youngest  son  of  Robert  III.,  king  of  Scotland,  and 
who  was  afterwards  James  I.  (of  Scotland)  was  taken,  while  on 
his  way  to  France,  and  brought  into  England.  Henry  kept 
him  prisoner  many  years,  but  made  some  compensation  for  this 
unfair  measure,  by  causing  James  to  be  wTell  educated.    * 

The  house  of  commons  was  greatly  strengthened  for  a  time, 
by  the  submission  which  Henry  found  it  necessary  to  manifest 
towards  them.  But  having  assured  himself  of  his  tenure  of 
the  kingdom,  Parliament  was  made  to  know  that  royal  prerog- 
atives were  not  intended  to  be  surrendered.  In  1412,  Henry 
obtained  an  act  of  parliament  to  settle  the  crown  on  his  heirs. 
The  most  remarkable  event  of  this  reign  was  a  proposal  of 
the  house  of  commons  to  seize  on  all  the  property  held  by  the 
clergy;  much  the  same  measure  which  Henry  VIII.  carried 
into  effect  rather  more  than  100  years  afterwards.  But  the 
king  would  not  consent  to  this,  and  expressed  himself  to  be 
much  dissatisfied  with  the  proposal.  To  quiet  the  church,  and 
give  assurance  of  his  sincerity,  he  caused  one  of  the  followers 
of  Wickliffe,   (they  had  now  the  name  of  Lollards*)  to  be 

*  Said  to  be  so  called  from  a  German  named  Lollard ;  also  from 
lolium,  meaning  tares ;  i.  e.  tares  sowed  in  the  church  by  the  evil  One. 


140  HENRY   V. 

burned  before  the  parliament  was  dissolved.  Henry's  health 
declined,  and  he  died  at  Westminster,  on  the  20th  of  March, 
1413.  This  person  was  able,  brave,  discreet.  But  the  inter- 
nal welfare  of  England  was  in  no  respect  advanced  during  his 
reign. 

The  account  given  by  Shakspeare  of  Henry  V.,  as  "  prince 
Hal,"  is  conformable  to  historical  accounts  of  the  early  life  of 
this  king.  Having  come  to  the  crown  in  1413,  at  the  age  of 
25,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  he  abandoned  his  early  associ- 
ates, and  appears  to  have  felt,  thought,  and  acted,  as  became 
his  station.  He  released  the  true  heir  to  the  crown,  his  cousin, 
Mortimer  earl  of  March,  from  prison,  and  a  mutual  friendship 
was  ever  afterwards  maintained  between  them.  He  caused  the 
remains  of  Richard  II.  to  be  brought  to  Westminster,  with 
regal  ceremonies.  The  Piercys,  who  had  long  been  exiles  in 
Scotland,  were  restored  to  their  estates,  and  rank. 

Whether  Henry  thought  himself  entitled  to  the  crown  of 
France,  or  supposed  the  divided  and  miserable  condition  of  that 
country  would  open  for  him  the  way  to  it,  or  whether  he  in- 
tended only  to  keep  his  restless  nobility  occupied,  and  take  the 
chances  of  fortune,  he  resolved  on  an  invasion.  He  assembled 
a  great  council  at  Westminster,  on  the  15th  April,  1415,  and 
informed  them  that  he  was  about  to  attempt  "  the  recovery  of 
his  inheritance."  He  landed  in  Normandy,  and,  after  taking 
some  towns,  and  gaining  valuable  plunder,  he  found  it  necessa- 
ry to  make  his  way  to  Calais  under  circumstances  strongly 
resembling  those  of  Edward  III.,  at  Crecy,  in  1346,  and  nearly 
over  the  same  gound.  At  a  place  called  Azincourt  by  the 
French,  and  Agincourt  by  the  English,  on  the  28th  of  October, 
1415,  Henry  fought  the  memorable  battle  of  that  name.  The 
French  outnumbered  the  English,  three  or  four  times ;  but  the 
victory  fell  to  the  English,  and  was  not  less  ruinous  to  the 
French,  than  the  battle  of  Crecy,  or  Poitiers.  The  wretched 
condition  of  France  so  favored  the  projects  of  Henry,  that  on 
the  21st  of  May,  1420,  he  concluded  a  treaty,  the  terms  of 
which  were  dictated  by  himself;  and  he  married  Catherine, 
the  youngest  daughter  of  Charles  VI.,  king  of  France.  The 
whole  of  Henry's  reign  was  devoted  to  his  objects  in  France, 
and  he  had  reason  to  believe,  that  the  claim  of  the  Plantagenets 
to  the  crown,  was  about  to  be  satisfied  in  his  own  person. 
The  treaty  provided  that  the  crown  should  go  to  him,  and  his 
heirs,  on  the  death  of  the  imbecile  Charles  VI.,  who  was  then 
the  nominal  king;  and  that  Henry  should,  in  the  mean  time, 
be  the  regent,  or  king  in  fact.    These  ambitious  purposes  were 


HENRY    V.  141 

brought  to  a  sudden  and  mournful  termination  by  the  death  of 
Henry,  on  the  21st  of  August,  1422,  at  Vincennes,  near  Paris, 
at  the  age  of  thirty-four.  The  disease  of  Henry  was  an  inter- 
nal malady,  which  the  improved  state  of  science,  at  the  present 
day,  would  treat  as  a  light  matter,  but  which,  at  that  time,  was 
deemed  incurable.  Henry  prepared  for  his  death  with  com- 
posure and  good  sense,  as  to  himself,  and  with  foresight  and 
wisdom,  as  to  his  kingdom.  His  remains  were  taken  to 
London  for  burial.  Among  those  who  followed  as  mourners, 
were  the  earl  of  March,  the  true  heir  to  the  crown  of  England, 
and  the  still  captive  king  of  Scotland,  James  I. 

Henry's  splendid  career  was  highly  gratifying  to  his  sub- 
jects, and  they  appear  to  have  granted  facilities  with  unusual 
complacency.  The  real  benefit  of  his  achievements  may  be 
found  in  the  fact,  that  he  kept  his  turbulent  nobles  too  busy  in 
France,  to  permit  leisure  for  cabals,  and  insurrection,  at  home. 
Henry  is  described  as  handsome,  affable,  amiable,  and  able,  a 
good  soldier  and  statesman.  The  events  of  his  reign  turn  en- 
tirely on  the  internal  state  of  France,  which  belong  to  the  his- 
tory of  that  country.  England  seems  to  have  made  no  advance, 
in  any  beneficial  respect,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  V.  The  only 
circumstance  which  deserves  a  special  notice  relates  to  the 
disciples  of  Wickliffe,  now  much  increased,  and  distinguished 
by  the  name  of  Lollards. 

Henry  appears  to  have  been  disinclined  to  severity,  and  to 
the  shedding  of  blood  ;  but  the  clergy  persuaded  him  that  the 
Lollards  were  a  very  dangerous  faction,  and  ought  to  be  sup- 
pressed. Sir  John  Oldcastle  (called  lord  Cobham)  was  point- 
ed out  as  the  head  of  this  sect.  He  was  known  to  the  king, 
and  had  been  known  to  his  father,  as  a  man  of  talents,  as  a 
soldier,  and  as  of  good  character.  Henry  refused  to  have 
Cobham  prosecuted,  until  he  had  first  spoken  to  him,  and  at- 
tempted a  conversion.  The  attempt  was  made,  and  with  the 
most  friendly  intentions  on  the  part  of  the  king;  but  Cobham 
was  immovable.  Henry  then  gave  him  up  to  the  bishops, 
who  condemned  him  to  be  burnt.  He  was  committed  to  the 
tower,  but  escaped  the  day  before  the  sentence  was  to  have 
been  executed.  He  then  combined  with  the  religious  malcon- 
tents, and  actually  committed  treason,  having  plotted  to  seize 
the  person  of  the  king,  at  Windsor,  (January,  1414.)  He  was 
defeated  in  this  enterprise  by  the  king's  unexpected  removal  to 
another  place.  Four  years  afterwards,  Cobham  was  taken  and 
executed  as  a  traitor.  The  discontent  with  the  Roman  clergy 
had  extended  to  great  numbers  in  England,  and  was  preparing 


142  HENRY    V. 

the  way  for  the  great  change  which  another  century  was  to 
produce. 

The  son  of  Henry  V.  by  Catherine  of  France,  (a  lady  of 
great  celebrity,)  was  born  in  England,  and  was  less  than  nine 
months  old  when  his  father  died,  (1422.)  With  a  minor  king, 
or  a  feeble  one,  England  was  certain  to  be  miserable.  Under 
this  infant  Henry  VI.  there  were  two  kingdoms  to  govern, 
France,  as  well  as  England.  Henry  V.  had  two  brothers, 
John,  duke  of  Bedford,  and  Humphrey,  duke  of  Gloucester. 
The  government  was  assigned  to  John,  under  the  name  of 
protector,  or  guardian;  and  in  his  absence  to  Humphrey.  A 
council  was  also  assigned  them,  whose  advice  and  approbation 
were  essential  to  all  important  measures.  The  presence  of 
John,  duke  of  Bedford,  was  indispensable  in  France.  He  is 
represented  to  have  been  a  very  able,  just,  and  worthy  man. 
Humphrey  seems  to  have  had  a  worthy  character.  The 
custody  of  the  young  monarch's  person  was  confided  to  Henry 
Beaufort,  bishop  of  Winchester,  one  of  the  legitimate  sons  of 
John  of  Gaunt,  and,  consequently,  a  great  uncle  of  Henry  VI. 

There  had  long  been  a  sympathetic  alliance  between  France 
and  Scotland  against  England.  As  the  affairs  of  France  made 
it  very  certain  that  hostilities  would  be  renewed  with  England, 
the  protector  (Bedford)  caused  the  young  king  of  Scotland  to 
be  sent  home,  on  an  agreed  ransom,  and  with  an  English  queen, 
in  the  person  of  a  daughter  of  the  earl  of  Somerset,  a  cousin  of 
Henry  VI.     (1423.) 

From  this  time  till  1450,  the  historians  of  England  narrate 
the  events  which  occurred  in  France,  in  all  of  which  the  gov- 
ernment of  England  was  involved.  But,  on  the  part  of  Eng- 
land, it  was  only  an  unprofitable,  and  very  costly  effort  to  retain 
the  dominion  which  Henry  V.  had  acquired.  These  events 
belong,  therefore,  to  the  history  of  France,  and  will  be  noticed 
in  that  connexion.  It  is  sufficient  here  to  observe,  that  these 
English  concerns  in  France  took  place  while  Henry  VI.  was 
called  king  of  France  as  well  as  king  of  England;  and  that 
the  end  of  them  was  the  expulsion  of  the  English  from  France 
in  1451,  leaving  Calais  only,  which  was  a  great  expense  to 
England,  and  useful  in  no  respect,  but  as  an  avenue  into 
France. 


HENRY    VI.  143 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


Henry  VI. — Principal  actors  in  this  reign — Margaret  of  Anjou — internal 
dissensions — Jack  Cade — Duke  of  .York  regent—Commencement  of  civil 
wars — Warwick  the  king-maker — Edward  IV. 

The  son  of  Henry  V.,  nine  months  old  when  his  father  died, 
became  king  of  England,  and  was  to  be  king  of  France  when 
Charles  VI.  died,  which  event  soon  occurred.  He  was 
crowned  in  England  while  an  infant,  and  in  France  before  he 
was  ten  years  old,  by  the  name  of  Henry  VI.  He  was  utterly 
incompetent,  from  his  birth  to  his  death,  at  the  age  of  fifty,  to 
exercise  the  power  which  his  station  vested  in  him;  and  had  not 
common  sense  enough  to  perform  the  duties  of  the  humblest 
private  station.  The  life-time'  of  Henry  was,  at  first,  a  bitter 
and  malicious  contention  among  individuals  for  the  exercise  of 
the  royal  authority  in  his  name ;  and  the  last  half  of  his  life 
was  devoted  to  bloody  conflicts  for  the  crown,  which  the  acci- 
dent of  birth  had  placed  on  his  head. 

The  principal  actors  in  these  scenes  were, — 

1.  Henry  Beaufort,  (son  of  John  of  Gaunt,  duke  of  Lancas- 
ter, third  son  of  Edward  III.)  At  this  time  he  was  bishop  of 
Winchester,  and  held  the  rank  of  cardinal.  He  was  uncle  to 
Henry's  father,  and  grand  uncle  to  Henry.  The  office  of 
governor,  or  guardian  of  the  young  king,  was  given  to  him. 
This  person  appears  to  have  been  destitute  of  all  the  virtues 
and  qualities  which  are  expected  in  the  professors  of  Christian- 
ity, and  to  have  exercised  the  talents,  and  to  have  exhibited  the 
vices,  which  are  expected  in  aspiring  and  selfish  politicians. 

2.  John  Beaufort,  duke  of  Bedford,  was  the  brother  next  in 
age  to  Henry  V.  He  was  a  warrior,  a  statesman,  an  able  and 
a  worthy  man.  Parliament  made  him  protector.  He  was 
twice  married,  but  left  no  issue ;  his  second  widow  married 
Owen  Tudor,  who  was  the  grandfather  of  Henry  VII.  The 
duke  of  Bedford  died  in  1435,  in  France. 

3.  Humphrey  Beaufort,  duke  of  Gloucester,  next  brother  to 
John.  He  was  regent  in  England  in  John's  absence,  who 
spent  most  of  his  time  in  France.  Gloucester  was  called  "the 
good,"  "the  virtuous."  He  was  educated  at  Oxford;  favored 
learning;  commenced  the  great  library  now  known  as  the 
Bodleian.  He  was  twice  married.  He  was  murdered  in 
prison,  in  1447. 


144  HENRY   VI. 

4.  The  earl  of  Suffolk,  grandson  ofthe'merchant  dela  Pole, 
who  lent  money  to  Edward  III.,  and  son  of  him  who  was  a 
favorite  of  Richard  II.  This  person  was  a  confidential  agent 
of  the  queen,  next  to  be  mentioned. 

5.  Margaret  of  Anjou,  a  French  princess,  daughter  of  Reg- 
*  nier,  or  Rene,  count  of  Anjou,  and  who  was  a  titular  king  of 

Sicily  and  Naples.  She  married  Henry  VI.  in  the  year  1445; 
kssumed  the  government  of  the  kingdom,  and  was  the  ablest 
person  of  her  time,-  in  peace  and  war.  She  did  everything 
but  head  the  armies,  in  battle,  which  she  actually  led  into  the 
field.  A  French  historian  describes  her  as  "the  most  unhappy 
of  queens,  wives,  and  mothers." 

6.  Richard,  the  duke  of  York,  was  son  of  Richard,  earl  of 
Cambridge,  and  of  Anne,  heiress  of  Clarence,  and  as  such, 
claiming  the  crown,  adversely  to  the  Lancastrian  princes. 
He  married  Ann  Cecil  Nevil,  daughter  of  Ralph  Nevil,  earl 
of  Westmoreland.  The  son  of  this  marriage  was  Edward, 
earl  of  March,  Edward  IV. 

7.  Richard,  duke  of  Salisbury,  was  a  son  of  Ralph,  earl  of 
Westmoreland,  and  brother-in-law  of  the  duke  of  York.  He 
married  the  heiress  of  Thomas  Montecute,  earl  of  Salisbury, 
(killed  at  Orleans,  1428,)  and  thereby  took  the  title  of  Salis- 
bury. Husbands  might  assume  titles  which  had  descended  to 
females. 

8.  Beauchamp,  earl  of  Warwick,  was  the  last  male  de- 
scendant of  a  very  ancient  and  rich  house.  His  daughter,  the 
heiress  of  his  fortunes  and  title,  married  Richard  Nevil,  son  of 
the  earl  of  Salisbury,  who  thereby  took  the  title  of  Warwick. 
This  person  was  the  first  among  the  great  men  of  his  time, 
and  known  by  the  name  of  king-maker.  So  numerous  were  his 
estates,  and  such  his  opulence,  that  thirty  thousand  persons  are 
supposed  to  have  been  daily  maintained  at  his  charge. 

9.  Many  persons  are  spoken  of  in  the  civil  wars,  (between 
1450  and  1485)  under  the  name  of  dukes  of  Somerset.  These 
dukes  were  all  derived  from  the  third  son  of  Edward  III. 
(who  was  John  of  Gaunt,  duke  of  Lancaster,)  and  Catherine 
Swynford.  By  act  of  parliament,  the  offspring  of  this  con- 
nexion were  legitimated.  The  family  name  of  this  race  was 
Beaufort,  given  to  them  by  their  father;  one  of  his  inferior 
titles. 

10.  The  earls  of  Northumberland  were  the  ancient  family 
of  Piercy.  They  were  of  Danish  origin  in  the  ninth  century, 
and  came  from  Normandy  with  William,  in  1066.  This 
family  had  eighty-six  manors  in  York,  and  thirty-two  in  Lin- 


HENRY    VI.  145 

coin.  In  1414,  Henry  Percy,  son  of- Hotspur,  was  released 
from  confinement  in  Scotland,  where  he  had  long-  been  as  a 
hostage,  and  was  restored  to  his  family  estate  and  title.  The 
Percy  family  were  active  agents  in  all  the  wars  of  England, 
civil  and  foreign. 

11.  Catherine  was  the  widow  of  Henry  V.,  and  daughter 
of  Charles  VI.,  king  of  France.  After  the  death  of  Henry, 
she  gave  great  offence  by  marrying  Owen  Tudor  of  Wales, 
who  was  descended  (as  was  said)  from  the  royal  house  of 
Wales;  but  of  whom,  it  was  also  said,  that  he  was  the  son  of  a 
brewer.  This  marriage  produced  several  children,  one  of 
whom,  Edmund  Tudor,  married  the  daughter  of  John,  duke 
of  Somerset,  and  of  Margaret  Beauchamp;  and  the  son  of  this 
marriage  was  Henry,  earl  of  Richmond,  Henry  VII.  Tho 
Somersets  were  descendants  of  John  of  Gaunt,  duke  of  Lancas- 
ter, as  before  remarked.  When  Edmund  Tudor  married 
Margaret,  she  was  the  widow  of  John  de  la  Pole;  and  being 
again  a  widow,  she  married  Thomas  Stanley,  who  was  the 
earl  of  Derby  in  Henry  VII. 's  time;  and  consequently  Henry's 
father-in-law. 

12  When  John,  duke  of  Bedford,  died,  he  left  a  very  young 
widow,  Jacquelaine  of  Luxembourgh,  who  married  a  private 
gentleman  in  England,  Thomas  Woodville.  Elizabeth,  a 
daughter  of  this  marriage,  became  the  wife  of  Sir  John  Gray. 
She  afterwards  became  the  wife  of  Edward  IV.  Her  ambition 
and  arrogance  were  among  the  causes  of  the  public  afflictions. 
Her  father,  her  sons,  and  relations,  were  ennobled,  enriched, 
and  honored  in  such  manner  as  to  give  great  offence  to  the 
ancient  families. 

13.  The  Clifford  family  were  very  ancient,  and  are  traced 
back  to  the  seventh  century.  This  family  was  allied  by  mar- 
riages with  the  earls  of  Westmoreland,  Cumberland,  Dorset, 
and  Pembroke.  Walter  de  Clifford  was  the  father  of  fair 
Rosamond,  and  from  him  descended  the  lords  of  Westmoreland, 
and  the  earls  of  Cumberland.  The  seat  of  this  noble  family 
was  Clifford  Castle  on  the  Wye,  once  a  place  of  extraordinary 
grandeur,  now  an  imposing  ruin. 

14.  George,  duke  of  Clarence,  was  a  younger  brother  of 
Edward  IV.  and  of  Richard  III.  He  joined  Warwick  in  a 
rebellion  against. Edward  IV.,  and  married  Warwick's  daugh- 
ter. He  afterwards  deserted  Warwick,  and  made  his  peace 
with  his  brother  Edward;  but  this  peace  was  not  of  long  dura- 
tion .  Edward  condemned  him,  and  would  show  him  no  grace, 

13 


146  HENRY   Vi. 

but  in  permitting  him-  to  choose  his  mode  of  dying— which 
was,  drowning  in  a  butt  of  Malmsey  wine. 

From  the  year  1422,  when  Henry  V.  died,  to  the  year  1445, 
when  his  son  Henry  VI.  married  Margaret  of  Anjou,  the 
affairs  of  England  have  two  aspects;  the  intrigues  at  home  for 
power,  and  the  attempts  to  retain  the  conquests  which  Henry 
V.  had  made  in  France. 

The  bishop  of  Winchester,  and  his  nephew,  the  duke  of 
Somerset,  were  the  head  of  the  court  party,  as  connected  with 
the  young  king.  "The  good  duke  of  Gloucester,"  the  king's 
uncle,  was  the  regent  of  the  kingdom,  and  head  of  an  opponent 
party.  What  caused  the  bitter  enmity  between  these  parties, 
is  not  disclosed;  but  the  former  had  resolved  on  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  latter.  They  accused  Elinor  Cobham,  the  wife  of 
Gloucester,  of  sorcery.  The  precise  charge  was,  that  she  had 
a  small  image,  made  of  wax,  in  the  likeness  of  the  king;  and 
that,  with  the  aid  of  a  priest  and  a  witch,  she  caused  the  imbe- 
cility of  the  king,  by  a  slow  melting  of  this  wax  before  a  fire; 
and  with  the  design  to  destroy  the  king,  and  open  the  way  for 
her  husband  to  the  throne.  Elinor  was  tried,  convicted,  sen- 
tenced to  do  public  penance,  and  then  imprisoned  for  life. 
This  was  in  1441.  This  unfortunate  lady  disappeared,  and  is 
no  more  mentioned.  Such  an  accusation,  such  a  trial,  con- 
viction and  punishment,  disclose  the  true  state  of  intelligence 
and  morals. 

In  1445,  the  earl  of  Suffolk,  a  tool  of  the  bishop  of  Winches- 
ter, negotiated  a  marriage  between  Henry  and  Margaret  of 
Anjou.  Instead  of  acquiring  riches,  territory,  or  dominion,  as 
was  common  in  such  contracts,  Suffolk  secretly  agreed  to  cede 
a  province  of  France,  then  held  by  England.  It  was  for  this 
service,  that  the  negotiator  obtained  his  title  of  duke  of  Suffolk. 

Margaret  cordially  joined  the  party  of  Winchester,  Somer- 
set, and  Suffolk,  imparting  to  it  the  strength  of  her  regal 
authority.  The  union  of  these  persons  soon  proved  fatal  to 
"the  good  duke  of  Gloucester."  A  parliament  was  convened 
at  their  suggestion,  at  St.  Edmundsbury,  seventy  miles  north- 
east of  London,  which  Gloucester  attended.  He  was  there 
suddenly  accused,  arrested,  and  thrown  into  prison.  The  next 
morning  he  was  found  dead.  The  manner  of  his  death  can 
only  be  conjectured;  but  that  he  was  put  to  death  by  the 
queen's  party,  seems  not  to  have  been  doubted. 

Suspicion  of  the  duke  of  Suffolk  was  so  strong,  and  the 
popular  dissatisfaction  so  great,  that  he  was  accused  by  the 
Commons.     When  the  trial  was  about  to  proceed,  the  king 


JACK    CADE. 


147 


assembled  the  lords,  and  in  their  presence  took  on  himself  to 
banish  Suffolk  for  five  years.  He  soon  departed  for  the  con- 
tinent, but  was  forcibly  taken  on  the  sea,  and  brought  back, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  and  his  head  severed  from  his 
body  on  a  block,  in  a  small  boat,  with  a  rusty  sword.  Among 
the  charges  against  Suffolk  was  that  of  intending  to  marry  his 
son  to  the  daughter  of  Somerset,  and,  in  her  right,  to  claim 
the  throne. 

In  the  summer  of  the  year  1450,  the  formidable  insurrection 
occurred  which  was  led  by  Jack  Cade.  This  person  is  repre- 
sented to  have  fled  over  to  France  to  escape  public  punish- 
ment, and  to  have  returned,  and  to  have  excited  the  people  to 
rise.  The  number  was  great  enough  to  intimidate  the  king, 
who  retired  to  Kenilworth  castle  in  Warwickshire,  one  hun- 
dred and  one  miles  north-west  from  London.  The  insurgents 
marched  triumphantly  through  London.  Their  leader  assum- 
ed the  name  of  John  Mortimer,  the  family  which  had  preten- 
sions to  the  throne  after  the  death  of  Richard  II.,  though 
this  Mortimer  was  beheaded  in  the  time  of  Henry  V.  Lord 
Say  was  arrested  and  put  to  death  by  this  mob.  He  was  in 
the  office  of  treasurer,  and  accidentally  fell  into  their  power  in 
London.  After  some  days,  a  general  pardon  was  offered  by 
proclamation,  excepting  the  leader,  Cade.  A  price  was  set  on 
his  head :  he  was  met  in  Sussex  by  a  gentleman  named  Iden, 
and  slain  by  him. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  this  insurrection  was  occasioned  by  a 
sense  of  grievances  and  a  clamor  for  reform  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  public  affairs,  or  was  excited  by  the  York  party  to 
try  the  public  sentiment  concerning  the  tenure  of  the  crown 
by  the  Lancastrians.  There  are  some  facts  which  might  sup- 
port either  opinion. 

In  1451,  the  duke  of  York,  who  was  lord-lieutenant  of  Ire- 
land, came  thence  to  England.  In  the  following  year  the 
House  of  Commons  petitioned  the  king  to  remove  from  his 
person  and  councils,  the  duke  of  Somerset,  the  duchess  of 
Suffolk,  the  bishop  of  Chester,  Sir  John  Sutton,  lord  Dudley, 
and  others,  and  to  forbid  them  from  coming  within  twelve 
miles  of  the  court. 

The  duke  of  York  raised  an  army  of  ten  thousand  men, 
and  marched  towards  London,  demanding  a  reform  of  govern- 
ment and  the  dismissal  of  Somerset.  London  closed  its  gates. 
York  retreated  into  Kent.  The  king  came  there  with  a  supe- 
rior army,  in  which  were  York's  friends  Warwick,  Salisbury, 
and  others.  A  pacific  conference  occurred,  and  York  retired 
to  his  seat  at  Wigmore,  on  the  borders  of  Wales, 


148  HENRY    VI. 

In  1454,  was  born  Edward,  prince  of  Wales;  and  in  the 
same  year  the  king  fell  into  a  state  of  utter  imbecility.  Par- 
liament ordered  that  Richard,  duke  of  York,  should  be  lieu- 
tenant of  the  kingdom.  This  office  he  accepted  on  condition 
that  his  powers  should  be  precisely  defined.  Somerset  was 
sent  prisoner  to  the  tower. 

In  the  same  year  the  king  so  far  recovered,  that  his  per- 
sonal friends  required  of  him  to  resume  his  power.  York 
now  found  it  necessary  to  protect  himself,  but  without  claiming 
the  crown  or  demanding  any  thing  but  reform.  He  assembled 
his  forces,  and  approached  London.  On  the  23d  of  May,  1454, 
the  first  of  the  battles  between  York  and  Lancaster  was  fought 
at  St.  Alban's,  about  thirty  miles  north  of  London,  where  the 
Yorkists,  without  suffering  any  material  loss,  slew  the  duke 
of  Somerset,  the  earl  of  Northumberland,  the  earl  of  Stafford, 
(oldest  son  of  the  duke  of  Buckingham,)  lord  Clifford,  and 
some  others  of  distinction,  with  five  thousand  not  named. 
The  king  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  duke  of  York.  A  parlia- 
ment indemnified  the  duke  for  this  transaction,  and  confirmed 
his  authority  as  regent. 

In  1456,  the  indefatigable  queen  Margaret  suddenly  produc- 
ed her  husband  to  the  House  of  Lords,  and  caused  him  to 
declare  that  he  resumed  his  royal  authority.  He  did  so,  and 
the  court  retired  to  Coventry,  near  the  centre  of  the  kingdom, 
about  one  hundred  miles  northwardly  from  London.  At  this 
time  the  earls  of  Salisbury  and  Warwick  appear  on  the  side  of 
York,  who  retired  again  to  his  castle  at  Wigmore,  Salisbury 
to  Middleham  in  Yorkshire,  and  Warwick  to  Calais,  of  which 
place  the  government  had  been  committed  to  him  immediately 
after  the  battle  of  St.  Alban's! 

A  very  natural  but  futile  attempt  was  made  at  reconciliation. 
This  was,  probably,  a  measure  of  the  church,  suggested  by 
the  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Some  time  in  1458,  all  the 
parties  were  invited  to  London,  to  effect  a  general  amity;  and 
to  give  to  this  effort  the  appearance  of  solemnity  and  sincerity, 
a  procession  was  formed  to  St.  Paul's,  in  couples,  each  couple 
composed  of  one  leader  of  the  adverse  parties.  York  led 
queen  Margaret,  and  then  came  the  others,  paired  in  like 
manner.  Such  efforts  changed  no  one's  feelings;  the  matter 
to  be  settled  admitted  of  no  rule  but  that  of  force. 

The  opportunity  soon  occurred.  A  controversy  arose  in  1459 
between  two  inferiors  of  the  opposite  parties,  which  brought  the 
principals  and  all  their  followers  into  conflict  on  the  23d  of 
September  of  that  year.     While  the  earl  of  Salisbury  (a  parti- 


CIVIL    WARS. 


149 


san  of  the  duke  of  York)  was  leading  his  force  to  join  the 
duke,  he  was  overtaken  by  lord  Dudley,  leading  a  superior 
force  on  the  side  of  the  king.  The  parties  encountered  at 
Blore-heath,  about  fifty  miles  south-east  of  Liverpool,  and 
Salisbury,  by  an  ingenious  stratagem,  obtained  a  victory,  and 
reached  the  general  rendezvous  of  the  Yorkists  at  Ludlow, 
near  the  border  of  Wales.  This  was  the  second  battle  in  the 
war  of  the  roses. 

Warwick  brought  over  from  Calais  a  body  of  hired  troops, 
under  the  command  of  Sir  Andrew  Trollop.  Sir  Andrew 
deserted  to  king  Henry  with  these  troops.  York  fled  to  Irel- 
and, and  Warwick  to  Calais. 

In  the  following  year,  Warwick  landed  in  Kent,  having 
with  him  the  earl  of  Salisbury,  the  earl  of  Marche,  (oldest  son 
of  Richard,  duke  of  York,)  and  being  met  there  by  many  of 
the  York  party,  he  went  to  London,  increasing  his  numbers 
as  he  went,  and  soon  was  able  to  move  onward  to  meet  the 
royal  party,  which  came  from  Coventry  to  meet  him.  The 
third  battle  was  fought  at  Northampton  (about  seventy  miles 
north-west  from  London,  on  the  10th  of  July,  1460.  The 
perfidy  of  lord  Gray  of  Ruthven,  who  deserted,  with  his  forces, 
to  the  Yorkists,  gave  them  the  victory.  Henry  was  again 
prisoner.  On  the  king's  side,  the  duke  of  Buckingham,  the 
earl  of  Shrewsbury,  the  lords  Beaumont  and  Egremont,  and 
Sir  William  Lucie  were  killed. 

On  the  7th  of  October,  a  parliament  was  summoned,  and 
the  duke  of  York  having  returned  from  Ireland,  openly  as- 
serted his  right  to  the  throne.  The  matter  was  quietly  debat- 
ed, the  right  admitted,  but  postponed  to  the  death  of  Henry, 
the  duke  to  be,  meanwhile,  regent  of  the  kingdom. 

Historical  records  give  a  very  imperfect  account  of  the  deep 
and  searching  interests  which  a  change  of  dynasty,  from  Lan- 
caster back  to  York,  must  necessarily  bring  into  operation. 
The  titles  and  estates,  which  had  been  gradually  strengthening 
through  more  than  two  generations,  were  to  be  suddenly  seized 
upon,  and  bestowed  on  ancient  claimants  or  new  favorites. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  motives,  the  duke  of  York 
acquiesced  in  the  proposed  compromise.  He  sent  to  the 
queen,  requiring  her  presence  in  London.  This  active  and 
intelligent  female  had,  meanwhile,  obtained  from  Scotland  and 
in  the  north,  an  army  of  twenty  thousand,  and  came  to  bring 
her  own  answer.  The  duke,  supposing  this  armament  could 
be  no  more  than  an  insurrection,  proceeded  with  five  thousand 
men  to  the  north.  He  found  at  Wakefield  (about  sixty  miles 
13* 


150  CIVIL     WARS. 

north-east  of  Liverpool)  that  his  force  was  too  small  to  meet 
that  of  the  queen.  He  threw  himself  into  Sandal  castle,  in- 
tending to  await  the  coming  of  his  son,  the  earl  of  March, 
with  a  force  from  the  borders  of  Wales ;  but  feeling  himself 
disgraced  in  thus  sheltering  himself  from  a  woman,  he  came 
forth,  and  the  battle  of  Wakefield  was  fought  on  the  24th  of 
December,  1460.  The  duke  was  killed.  The  earl  of  Salis- 
bury was  taken  and  beheaded.  The  earl  of  Rutland,  a  youth 
of  fourteen,  youngest  son  of  York,  was  killed  after  the  battle 
by  the  hand  of  lord  Clifford,  to  avenge  his  father's  death  at 
St.  Alban's.  Thejiead  of  York  was  adorned  with  a  paper 
crown,  by  Margaret's  orders,  and  placed  on  the  gates  of  the 
city  of  York,  together  with  Salisbury's  head.  This  was  the 
fourth  battle  of  the  roses.  The  duke  of  York  fell  at  the  age 
of  fifty.  He  probably  did  not  leave  a  better  man  than  himself 
in  the  kingdom.  His  surviving  children  were  Edward,  George, 
and  Richard ;   Anne,  Elizabeth,  and  Margaret. 

Edward,  who  was  earl  of  March,  now  duke  of  York,  was 
coming  from  the  borders  of  Wales.  The  queen  sent  a  division 
of  her  army,  under  the  king's  half-brother,  Jasper  Tudor,  earl 
of  Pembroke,  to  meet  Edward.  The  parties  met  at  Morti- 
mer's cross,  Herefordshire,  near  the  borders  of  Wales,  on  the 
2d  of  February,  1461.  The  queen's  party  was  defeated,  with 
the  loss  of  four  thousand.  Sir  Owen  Tudor  (grandfather  of 
Henry  VII.)  was  taken  and  beheaded.  This  was  the  fifth 
battle. 

The  queen  had  better  fortune  at  the  sixth  battle,  fought  at 
St.  Alban's,  (the  second,  in  this  controversy,  at  that  place,)  on 
the  17th  of  the  same  month  of  February.  Here  the  earl  of 
Warwick  appeared,  with  a  numerous  force  from  London, 
assured  of  victory  ;  but  another  case  of  treachery  arose  on  his 
side.  Lovelace,  who  led  a  large  body  of  Yorkists,  withdrew 
in  the  midst  of  the  conflict.  The  Yorkists  were  vanquished, 
and  the  king  fell  again  into  the  possession  of  the  queen.  But 
this  heroine  iinding  herself  between  the  young  duke  of  York, 
who  was  coming  from  the  west,  and  the  city  of  London,  well 
known  to  be  favorably  disposed  to  her  enemy,  withdrew 
towards  the  north.  The  duke,  less  scrupulous  than  his  father, 
led  his  army  to  the  city,  and  there  caused  himself  to  be  pro- 
claimed as  Edward  IV.,  March  5,  1461. 


EDWARD    IV.  151 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


Reign  of  Edward  IV -~  Continuations  of  the  Wars  between  the  two  Roses 
— Edward's  Queen,  Elizabeth  Woodville — Rebellions — Edward's  Flight 
— His  Restoration — Death  of  Warwick — Queen  Margaret  captive — 
Death  of  Henry  VI. 

Edward  IV.  was  twenty  years  old.  He  was  handsome, 
and  devoted  to  pleasure,  but  capable  of  energetic  action,  and 
insensible  to  any  restraints  arising  from  mercy  or  a  sense  of 
justice.  He  was  well  adapted  to  the  cruel  and  bloody  efforts 
necessary  to  secure  his  seat  upon  the  throne.  The  public  feel- 
ing had  become  familiar  with  scenes  of  violence.  It  excited 
no  emotion  to  see  a  London  citizen  put  to  death  for  saying  he 
would  make  his  son  heir  to  the  crown,  meaning  the  sign  over 
his  own  shop-door.  It  was  about  this  time  that  the  symbol  of 
the  two  roses  first  appeared.  The  whole  nation  was  nearly 
equally  divided  into  two  vindictive  parties.  Both  could  not 
exist,  and  nothing  but  violence  could  destroy  either. 

Margaret  had  acquired  an  army  of  sixty  thousand  in  York- 
shire. Edward  and  the  earl  of  Warwick  led  an  army  of 
forty  thousand  against  her.  On  the  29th  of  March,  1461,  the 
seventh  battle  was  fought  at  Touton,  a  short  distance  from 
Wakefield,  near  the  city  of  York.  This  was  the  severest 
battle  of  the  war;  thirty-six  thousand  men  having  fallen  on 
the  side  of  the  queen.  Among  the  slain  of  this  party  were 
the  earl  of  Westmoreland,  Sir  John  Nevil,  his  brother,  the  earl 
of  Northumberland,  lords  Dacres  and  Welles,  and  Sir  Andrew 
Trollop.  The  earl  of  Devonshire  (now  of  the  king's  party) 
was  made  prisoner,  and  immediately  beheaded  by  Edward's 
order.  The  heads  of  the  late  duke  Richard  and  the  earl  of 
Salisbury,  which  the  queen  had  placed  over  the  gate  of  York 
immediately  after  the  battle  of  Wakefield,  were  taken  down 
and  buried,  and  that  of  Devonshire  put  up.  The  king  and 
queen,  who  were  at  the  city  of  York  awaiting  the  issue  of 
this  battle,  fled  into  Scotland.  Among  their  companions  were 
the  duke  of  Exeter,  who  had  married  king  Edward's  sister, 
and  Henry,  duke  of  Somerset.  Edward  supposed  he  should 
best  promote  his  own  interest  by  returning  to  London. 

A  parliament  was  held  in  November,  and  Edward  experi- 
enced the  benefit  of  his  own  decisive  energy.  Parliament 
was  ready  to  annul  every  act  of  the  Lancastrian  kings  as 
mere  usurpation,  and  to  reverse  every  attainder  and  forfeiture. 


152  EDWARD    IV* 

It  is  now  obvious  why  these  battles  occurred,  and  why  they 
were  so  severely  contested.  Parliament  proceeded  to  declare 
the  king  and  queen,  and  all  their  adherents  of  the  nobility  and 
gentry,  attainted,  and  all  the  titles  and  estates  of  these  attaint- 
ed persons  to  be  forfeited.  But  as  to  those  who  were  within 
Edward's  power,  attaint  and  forfeiture  were  followed  by  exe- 
cution. John,  earl  of  Oxford,  and  his  son,  Aubrey  de  Vere, 
and  three  others,  were  so  condemned  and  executed. 

Between  this  time  and  May,  1464,  Margaret  had  gone  over 
to  France,  and  prevailed  on  the  cautious  Louis  XI.  to  furnish 
her  with  two  thousand  men,  on  the  promise  of  surrendering 
Calais,  if  she  recovered  the  throne.  On  the  15th  of  May,  the 
queen  again  tried  her  fortune  at  the  battle  of  Hexham,  and 
was  defeated.  This  battle  was  the  eighth.  Hexham  is  within 
sixty  miles  of  Scotland.  The  duke  of  Somerset,  the  lords 
Roos  and  Hungerford,  Sir  Humphrey  Nevil,  and  others,  were 
either  killed  in  battle  or  beheaded  afterwards.  Such  modes  of 
vengeance  indicate  the  desperate  character  of  the  war,  far 
more  ferocious  than  war  between  different  nations. 

Margaret  was  compelled  to  hide  herself  and  her  son  Ed- 
ward (now  about  ten  years  old)  in  a  forest.  Here  she  was 
assailed  and  robbed,  and  while  the  robbers  were  contending 
for  the  spoils,  she  escaped,  and  soon  after  encountered  another 
robber  carrying  a  drawn  sword.  She  approached  him  boldly, 
and  addressed  him, — "  My  friend,  I  commit  to  your  care  the 
safety  of  your  king's  son  !  "  From  whatever  motive,  the  con- 
fidence was  accepted.  She  was  concealed  some  time  in  the 
forest,  aided  to  reach  the  sea-coast,  and  escaped  to  France. 
Her  husband,  Henry,  was  secreted  in  the  north  for  more  than 
a  year,  then  taken  and  imprisoned  in  the  tower. 

There  was  now  comparative  tranquillity.  The  Lancastrians 
were  terrified  and  silent.  Edward  abandoned  himself  to 
pleasure.  The  fortunes  of  England  took  a  new  and  unex- 
pected turn  from  a  mere  accident.  The  princess  Jaqueline  of 
Luxembourgh,  widow  of  John,  duke  of  Bedford,  regent  of 
France,  (who  died  in  1435,)  married  a  private  gentleman, 
Thomas  Woodville.  Their  daughter  Elizabeth  married  Sir 
John  Gray,  who  was  in  the  second  battle  of  St.  Alban's,  on 
the  queen's  side,  and  was  there  killed.  The  king  (Edward 
IV.)  happening  to  be  near  the  abode  of  Jaqueline,  stopped  to 
visit  her ;  saw  Elizabeth,  became  enamored,  and  raised  her  to 
the  throne.  These  things  happened  while  the  king's  friend 
Warwick  was  engaged  in  negotiating  a  marriage,  under  a 
special  commission  from  Edward,  between  him  and  the  prin- 


EDWARD    IV.  153 

cess  Bona  of  Savoy,  sister  to  the  queen  of  France.  This  alli- 
ance was  thought,  by  Warwick,  necessary  to  Edwrard's  secu- 
rity. It  was  not  only  prevented,  but  Warwick  perceived  that 
the  power  which  he  had  exercised  was  impaired,  and  might 
soon  be  lost  under  the  influence  of  new  favorites.  Edward 
felt  too  heavily  the  weight  of  obligation  to  Warwick,  and  was 
not  disinclined  to  be  freed  from  a  burthen.  This  appears  to 
be  the  point  of  time  when  an  alienation  began,  and  which 
prolonged  the  wars  of  the  roses,  and,  consequently,  the  afflic- 
tions which  seemed  to  have  subsided.  It  may  have  been 
difficult  for  Edward  to  bear  Warwick's  pretensions,  and  im- 
possible to  reconcile  these  with  the  powers  which  the  new 
queen  assumed  to  exercise.  The  rich,  noble,  powerful  War- 
wick, had  only  to  choose  betwreen  a  life  of  insignificance  and 
an  attempt  to  make  his  power  and  his  indignation  felt  on  the 
throne  itself. 

The  queen  had  a  father,  a  brother,  three  sisters,  and  also, 
by  her  former  marriage,  a  son.  All  of  them  were  raised  to 
high  dignity  by  titles,  marriages,  or  offices;  nor  only  so,  in 
effecting  her  object,  the  queen  wounded  the  pride  of  the  whole 
family  of  Nevil,  of  which  Warwick  was  one.  The  ancient 
nobility  were  generally  disgusted  by  the  queen's  arrogance  in 
advancing  her  relations.  Even  the  family  of  York  were 
unable  to  conceal  their  displeasure. 

George,  duke  of  Clarence,  the  king's  second  brother,  was 
among  the  malcontents  of  this  time.  Warwick  perceiving 
this,  effected  a  marriage  between  Clarence  and  his  eldest 
daughter.  This  lady  was  one  of  two  who  were  to  inherit 
Warwick's  immense  fortune.    This  alliance  occurred  in  1466. 

From  this  time  till  1469,  Edward  appears  to  have  been 
attempting  to  strengthen  himself  against  France,  by  an  alliance 
with  Charles,  duke  of  Burgundy,  to  whom  he  gave  his  sister 
Margaret  in  marriage.  Some  other  arrangements  were  made, 
to  like  purpose,  with  the  duke  of  Brittany.  Warwick  retained 
his  government  of  Calais  during  these  years,  and  was  not 
otherwise  employed  by  the  king. 

In  1469  there  was  a  numerous  insurrection  in  the  north, 
It  does  not  appear  to  have  been  political  in  its  commencement. 
Lord  Montague,  who  was  the  military  chief  in  the  north  and 
brother  of  Warwick,  attempted  to  suppress  the  insurgents. 
The  leader  was  seized  and  executed.  Sir  Henry  Nevil,  son 
of  Lord  Latimer,  associated  himself  with  the  rebels,  as  did  Sir 
John  Coniers.  Herbert,  earl  of  Pembroke,  (successor  of  Jas- 
per Tudor  in  that  title,)  and  Stafford,  earl  of  Devonshire,  were 


154 


EDWARD    IV. 


sent  against  them  by  the  king.  There  was  a  battle  at  Banbu- 
ry. Nevil  took  Pembroke  and  beheaded  him.  The  king 
thinking  the  earl  of  Devonshire  blameable,  beheaded  him. 
The  rebels  sent  a  party  to  Grafton,  surprised  the  queen's 
father,  earl  Rivers,  and  her  brother  John,  and  executed  them. 
This  fact  leads  to  a  surmise  that  Warwick  was  not  ignorant 
that  such  insurrection  was  intended. 

In  1470  another  rebellion  occurred,  in  Lincoln,  with  a  force 
of  thirty  thousand.  Sir  Robert  Welles,  son  of  lord  Welles, 
(who  seems  to  have  abjured  all  part  in  it,)  was  their  leader. 
The  king  fought  a  battle  with  them,  defeated  them,  and  be- 
headed lord  Welles  and  his  son. 

These  insurrections  are  not  accounted  for.  They  show  an 
exceedingly  irritated  condition  of  society,  probably  arising 
from  the  insecurity  of  property  and  life,  and  this  from  inces- 
sant revolutions  and  their  consequences ;  or  they  may  have 
been  excited  by  the  malcontents,  even  by  Warwick  himself. 

Warwick,  and  his  son-in-law  Clarence,  came  from  Calais  to 
aid  the  king,  and  had  commissions  to  levy  troops.  But,  sud- 
denly, both  Warwick  and  Clarence  came  out  against  the  king, 
and  used  their  commissions  to  levy  troops  for  themselves. 
There  may  have  been  some  connexion  between  these  persons 
and  Sir  Robert  Welles.  Hearing  of  his  defeat,  they  retired 
to  the  north,  where  they  are  supposed  to  have  expected  the  aid 
of  lord  Stanley,  who  married  Warwick's  sister,  and  of  the 
marquis  Montague,  brother  of  Warwick.  Neither  of  these 
persons  appeared,  and  Warwick  and  Clarence  fled.  They 
arrived  at  Calais,  but  the  commandant  of  that  fortress  would  not 
admit  them,  preferring  to  adhere  to  the  king.  Doubtless, 
Warwick's  office  of  governor  of  Calais  had  been  revoked. 
He  and  his  son-in-law,  the  duke  of  Clarence,  were  compelled 
to  seek  safety  in  France.  Both  Warwick  and  Clarence  now 
appear  as  Lancastrians,  negotiating  with  Margaret  and  the 
king  of  France  to  dethrone  Edward,  and  replace  Henry. 
Warwick  married  his  youngest  daughter  to  Margaret's  son, 
the  prince  of  Wales,  who  was  yet  a  boy,  and  settled  the  Eng- 
lish crown  on  them  and  their  issue,  and  in  default  of  such 
issue,  on  Clarence,  and  his  heirs. 

Edward  had  notice  of  these  measures,  considered  them  con- 
temptible, and  desired  nothing  more  earnestly  than  that  War- 
wick should  venture  to  England.  He  did  venture  thither,, 
soon  found  himself  at  the  head  of  sixty  thousand  men,  and 
Edward  approached  him  at  Nottingham,  in  September,  1470. 
In  the  night  before  the  expected  day  of  battle,  some  of  War- 


EDWARD    IV.  155 

wick's  party  took  arms,  and  proceeded  with  the  Lancastrian 
war  cry  towards  Edward's  quarters,  who  was  advised  by  his 
chamberlain,  lord  Hastings,  to  fly.  He  did  so,  and  was  hastily 
conveyed  over  to  the  continent,  and  with  so  little  preparation, 
that  he  paid  for  his  passage  with  his  robe  lined  with  sable. 
Thus,  in  eleven  days  from  landing,  Warwick  was  master  of 
the  kingdom. 

,  The  proud  Warwick  hastened  to  London,  released  the  same 
Henry  whom  he  had  ignominiously  committed  to  the  tower, 
and  convoked  a  parliament.  This  assembly  restored  Henry; 
reversed  all  that  the  York  party  had  done;  restored  the  Lan- 
castrians, and  provided  for  the  entire  execution  of  the  treaty 
which  Warwick  had  made  with  Margaret,  in  Paris.  The 
leaders  of  the  Yorkists  fled.  Some  of  them,  who  had  been 
dukes,  were  little  better  than  common  beggars  on  the  continent. 

The  toils  of  Margaret  were  now  to  be  rewarded.  She  was 
about  to  see  her  enemies  prostrated  ;  herself  and  family  restored 
to  the  dignity  and  honor  of  which  they  had  been  unjustly  and 
Cruelly  deprived.  The  fugitive  Lancastrians  gathered  around 
her,  to  grace  her  triumphal  return.  Necessary  preparations, 
and  adverse  winds,  prevented  her  departure,  and  she  did  not 
reach  England  till  the  11th  of  April,  1471.  She  arrived  at 
the  very  moment  to  learn  that  Edward  had  returned,  Warwick 
was  slain,  Edward  again  king,  and  her  poor  husband,  Henry, 
again  his  captive. 

It  appears  that  Edward  was  aided  by  his  brother-in-law,  the 
duke  of  Burgundy.  He  found  his  way  to  York,  with  some 
followers.  He  moved  southwardly,  becoming  daily  stronger ; 
designedly  avoided  Warwick,  who  had  gone  out  to  meet  him ; 
came  to  London ;  was  well  received  there,  and  recognised 
as  king.  Many  reasons  are  assigned  why  the  citizens  of 
London  welcomed  him ;  but  not  one  creditable  to  him,  or  to 
them.  The  king  had  now  become  strong  enough  to  return 
upon  Warwick.  They  met  at  Barnet,  about  twenty-five  miles 
north  of  London. 

On  the  11th  of  April,  1471,  the  conflict  was  had,  and  War- 
wick's party  were  vanquished,  and  himself  slain.  These 
events  were  produced,  in  part,  by  the  perfidy  of  Clarence,  and 
of  other  supposed  friends  of  Warwick ;  and,  in  part,  by  acci- 
dents which  often  settle  the  result  of  battles,  and  which  no 
wisdom  can  foresee  or  prevent.  Montague,  the  brother  of 
Warwick,  was  also  slain. 

On  the  same  day  of  the  battle,  Margaret  landed  at  Wey- 
mouth, in  Dorsetshire,  on  the  south  coast  of  England.     Over- 


156  EDWARD    IV. 

whelmed  by  this  reverse,  for  the  first  time,  she  gave  way  to 
her  fate,  and  sought  a  neighboring  sanctuary  for  herself  and 
son.  Reassured  by  her  companions  and  friends,  she  proceeded 
northwardly  to  Tevvksbury,  in  Worcestershire,  between  the 
cities  of  Worcester  and  Gloucester,  where  the  battle  of  that 
name  (Tevvksbury)  was  fought  on  the  11th  of  May,  1471. 
Her  party  was  totally  defeated.  The  earl  of  Devonshire,  and 
lord  Warloc,  were  killed  in  the  field.  The  duke  of  Somerset, 
and  others,  beheaded.  The  queen  and  her  son  were  taken. 
The  son  was  brought  to  Edward's  presence,  who  demanded  of 
him  why  he  dared  enter  England.  The  youth  (then  about 
eighteen)  answered,  "  to  claim  my  inheritance."  Edward 
struck  him  in  the  face,  which  was  construed  into  an  order  to 
dispatch  him.  He  was  hurried  into  an  adjoining  room,  and 
that  deed  was  done:  some  say  by  Gloucester,  afterwards  Rich- 
ard III.  Margaret  was  consigned  to  the  tower.  Her  husband, 
Henry  VI.,  died  in  the  same  place,  soon  after  this  battle. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  he  was  murdered,  and,  according  to 
the  moral  sense  of  that  day,  it  is  of  little  importance  whether 
he  was,  or  was  not. 

After  the  battle  of  Tewksbury,  no  Lancastrians  remained, 
who  could  disturb  Edward,  except  Jasper  Tudor,  earl  of  Pem- 
broke, half  brother  to  Henry  VI.,  and  his  nephew,  the  earl  of 
Richmond.  Both  these  persons  were  then  in  Wales,  where 
Edward  could  not  pursue  them  with  a  military  force.  He  at- 
tempted to  get  possession  of  them  by  fraud,  and  to  cause  them 
to  be  murdered.  They  retired  to  France,  and  were  driven  into 
a  port  in  Brittany.  They  intended  to  go  to  Paris,  but  the 
duke  of  Brittany  found  it  expedient  to  forbid  their  departure. 
Edward  was  careful  to  have  them  well  guarded  there.  The 
young  earl  of  Richmond  remained  there  until  he  returned  to 
England  to  wear  its  crown. 

Edward  lived  about  eleven  years  after  he  had  slain  in  battle, 
silenced  by  the  axe,  or  put  to  flight,  every  one  who  could 
assert  a  claim  to  the  throne.  He  had  also  taken  a  cruel  ven- 
geance on  many  of  those  persons  who  had  united  with  his 
adversaries.  He  attended  next  to  schemes  of  ambition,  in  the 
affairs  of  Prance,  and  the  countries  which  border  upon  France. 
In  these  measures  he  had  to  contend  with  the  most  cunning 
and  most  unprincipled  man  of  the  age,  Louis  XI. ;  and  found 
no  better  fruits  from  his  exertions,  than  the  painful  assurance 
of  having  been  duped,  without  the  possibility  of  obtaining  his 
objects,  or  gratifying  his  revenge. 

The  private  life  of  Edward  was  exceedingly  odious.     He 


EDWARD    IV.  157 

was  the  handsomest  and  most  profligate  man  of  his  time.  He 
had  popularity,  and  perhaps  good  will,  with  many  of  his  sub- 
jects, who  were  inclined  to  judge  lightly  of  his  vices.  He 
was  brave  and  able  in  battle;  prompt  and  effective  in  council; 
but  perfidious  and  cruel  as  a  victor.  The  causes  of  his  death, 
at  the  age  of  forty-two,  are  variously  stated.  His  own  vices 
were  undoubtedly  the  true  causes,  whatever  character  disease 
may  have  taken  at  the  close.     (April  9th,  1483.) 

This  profligate  life  of  Edward  was  a  subject  of  notice,  after 
his  death,  in  the  case  of  Jane  Shore,  who  is  destined,  through 
the  attractions  of  the  drama,  to  be  long  remembered.  Mcin- 
tosh has  done  something  to  mitigate  opinion,  in.  quoting  the 
words  of  a  contemporary  writer,  Sir  Thomas  More  : — ■•  Proper 
she  was  and  fair,  yet  delighted  not  men  so  much  in  her  beauty, 
as  in  her  pleasant  behavior ;  for  a  proper  wit  had  she,  and 
could  both  read  well,  and  write:  ready  and  quick  of  answer, 
neither  mute  nor  babbling;  many  mistresses  the  king  had,  but 
her  he  loved,  whose  favor,  to  say  the  truth,  she  never  abused 
to  any  man's  hurt,  but  often  employed  to  many  a  man's  relief." 

While  Edward  lived,  he  could  suppress  the  bitterness  of 
feeling  which  had  arisen,  and  which  proved  more  inveterate 
even  than  that  of  the  two  roses;  but  when  this  influence  was 
lost,  all  restraint  on  hatreds  was  lost.  Elizabeth  Woodville 
had  always  known  how  to  preserve,  and  to  exercise  her  power 
over  her  husband:  and  she  had  used  it  to  honor  and  illustrate 
all  her  own  family,  to  the  utmost  of  royal  favor.  The  ancient 
nobility  had  looked  on  this  arrogance  with  smothered  enmity 
so  long,  that  the  opportunity  to  show  it,  and  humble  the 
Woodvilles,  was  a  welcome  event.  These  feelings  accorded 
well  with  the  designs  of  Richard,  duke  of  Gloucester,  who  had 
been  careful  &o  keep  on  good  terms  with  all  around  him. 
The  long  expected  day  had  come  to  develope  these  designs. 
These,  and  the  execution  of  them,  give  to  Richard  the  highest 
place  among  the  cool  and  deliberate  villains,  who  have,  at  any 
time,  appeared  on  earth. 


14 


158  RICHARD    III. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


Richard  III. — Principal  actors  in  his  time — Murder  of  Edward's  two  sons 
— Richard's  attempt  to  marry  Edward's  daughter  Elizabeth — Earl  of 
Richmond — Battle  of  Bosworth — Henry  VII. 

Richard,  duke  of  Gloucester,  has  not  been  brought  but 
little  into  view  in  the  preceding  events.  He  was  employed  by 
Edward  in  an  expedition  undertaken  against  Scotland,  and 
then  held  a  high  military  rank.  He  was  on  the  borders  of 
Scotland  when  his  brother  Edward  died.  This  person  be- 
comes the  principal  character  in  the  tragic  scenes  of  the  time. 
Edward  had  removed  from  the  earth  his  Lancastrian  foesr 
only  to  give  place  to  the  passions  of  his  own  brother,  which 
were  satisfied  with  nothing  short  of  the  destruction  of  every 
member  of  Edward's  family,  who  stood  between  him  and  the 
throne.  The  persons  who  are  known  as  agents  from  the  9th 
of  April,  1483,  (Edward's  decease,)  to  the  22d  of  August,  1485, 
when  the  duke  of  Gloucester  (as  Richard  III.)  was  slain,  and 
the  earl  of  Richmond,  (as  Henry  VII.)  became  king,  were 
these: — 

1.  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Edward  IV.,  whose  origin  and 
family  connexion  have  been  already  stated. 

2.  Edward  V.,  son  of  Edward  IV.  and  Elizabeth  Wood- 
ville,  born  4th  of  November,  1470;  murdered  in  the  tower, 
June,  1483. 

3.  Richard,  duke  of  York,  younger  brother  of  Edward  V., 
murdered  at  the  same  time  in  the  tower. 

4.  Elizabeth,  born  February,  1466,  married  Henry  VII., 
January,  1486. 

5.  Richard,  duke  of  Gloucester,  brother  of  Edward  IV., 
usurped  the  crown  as  Richard  III.  Killed  at  Bosworth, 
August,  1485,  supposed  to  have  been  then  thirty-eight  years 
old.  "  Of  small  stature,  humpbacked,  harsh,  disagreeable 
countenance,  and  one  arm  shrivelled  and  decayed."     (Hume.) 

6.  The  earl  of  Rivers,  one  of  the  Woodvilles,  brother  of  the 
queen;  supposed  to  have  been  in  middle  age  in  1483;  much 
distinguished  for  his  learning  and  accomplishments.  He  in- 
troduced printing  in  England,  by  commending  Caxton  to  the 
patronage  of  Edward  IV.  (between  1471 — 1483.)  The  earl 
was  murdered  at  Pomfret  castle,  June,  1483,  by  order  of 
Richard  III. 


RICHARD    III. 


159 


7.  Sir  Richard  Gray,  son  of  the  queen  by  her  first  marriage, 
murdered  at  Pomfret  castle,  with  earl  Rivers. 

8.  The  marquis  of  Dorset,  was  another  son  of  the  queen  by 
her  former  marriage,  and  brother  of  Sir  Richard  Gray. 

9.  The  duke  of  Buckingham  was  descended  from  the  sixth 
son  of  Edward  III.,  who  was  Thomas  of  Woodstock,  duke  of 
Gloucester,  brother  of  Edward,  the  Black  Prince,  and  of  John 
of  Gaunt.  The  descent  was  through  Thomas's  daughter 
Ann,  who  married  Thomas,  earl  of  Stafford.  Their  son  was 
Humphrey,  duke  of  Buckingham,  who  was  killed  in  1460. 
The  son  of  this  duke  died  of  his  wounds  received  at  the  first 
battle  of  St.  Albans,  1455.  The  son  of  the  last  mentioned 
duke  was  the  present  Henry,  duke  of  Buckingham,  and  hus- 
band of  the  queen's  sister  Catherine  Woodville.  He  was  be- 
headed by  Richard  III.  in  1483.  Buckingham  was  one  of  the 
first  men  of  his  time,  by  family,  by  riches,  and  by  personal 
qualities.  He  was  among  the  number  of  those  who  were 
displeased  with  the  arroganee  of  his  sister-in-law,  the  queen ; 
took  part  with  Richard,  and  then  against  him. 

10.  Among  the  adherents  to  the  queen,  was  lord  Lyle,  her 
brother-in-law. 

11.  The  duke  of  Norfolk.  Thomas  de  Mowbray,  earl  of 
Nottingham,  was  created  duke  of  Norfolk,  in  1398.  (He  was 
grandson  of  Thomas  Plantagenet,  second  son  of  Edward  I.) 
Sir  John  Howard  married  the  heiress  of  John  de  Mowbray, 
duke  of  Norfolk.  This  nobleman  adhered  to  Richard  III, 
and  commanded  the  van  at  Bosworth,  and  was  killed  there. 
His  title  of  duke  of  Norfolk  was  recognised  by  Richard,  the 
day  of  the  coronation. 

12.  The  Stanley  family  were  ancient  and  opulent,  and  were 
distinguished  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  Henry  III.  In  1456, 
Sir  Thomas  Stanley  was  summoned  to  parliament.  His  son 
Thomas  was  a  leader  in  the  battle  of  Bosworth,  and  appeared 
on  Richard's  side,  but  declared  for  Richmond,  and  settled  the 
fortune  of  the  day.  He  was  created  earl  of  Derby  in  1485, 
and  was  husband  of  Catherine,  the  mother  of  Henry  VII. 

13.  Sir  William  Stanley  was  brother  of  the  earl  of  Derby; 
beheaded  by  Henry  VII. 

14.  Lord  Hastings  had  been  among  the  personal  friends  of 
Edward  IV.,  but  appeared  among  the  principal  advisers  of 
Richard  III.  Being  suspected  by  Richard,  he  was  beheaded 
in  1483,  in  the  tower. 

15.  The  earl  of  Oxford.  Robert  de  Vere,  a  favorite  of 
Richard   II.,  was  created  earl  of  Oxford.     At   the  battle   of 


160  RICHARD    III. 

Barnet,  Warwick's  right  wing  was  commanded  by  John  de 
Vere,  Earl  of  Oxford.     The  earl  escaped,  and  fled  into  Wales. 

16.  Lord  Ferrers,  in  Richard's  army,  killed  at  Bosworth. 

17.  Sir  Richard  Radcliffe,     "       « 

18.  Sir  Robert  Piercy,  "       "         "         " 

19.  Sir  Robt.  Brakenbury,     "       "         "         "         " 

20.  Sir  William  Catesby,      "       "     taken  and  beheaded. 
Richard,  duke  of  Gloucester,  came  from  the  north  towards 

London,  immediately  on  hearing  of  his  brother's  death.  Ed- 
ward, now  king  by  the  name  of  Edward  V.,  was  at  Ludlow 
castle,  on  the  borders  of  Wales,  when  his  father  died.  He 
was  on  his  way  to  London,  under  the  care  of  his  uncle,  the 
earl  of  Rivers.  On  the  same  day  that  Richard  arrived  at 
Northampton,  young  Edward  arrived  at  Stony  Stratford,  about 
ten  miles  south  of  that  place.  The  duke  of  Buckingham  had 
eome  to  Northampton  to  meet  Richard.  Earl  Rivers  left  Ed- 
ward at  Stony  Stratford,  and  went  over  with  Sir  Richard  Gray 
to  Northampton  to  see  Richard,  who  had  assumed  the  charac- 
ter of  protector.  The  next  day  (April  30,  1483)  Richard, 
Buckingham,  Rivers,  and  Gray  rode  together  to  Edward  at 
Stony  Stratford.  When  they  arrived,  Rivers,  Gray,  and  Sir 
Thomas  Vaughan  were  suddenly  arrested  by  Richard's  order, 
and  sent  to  Pomfret  castle,  about  25  miles  south  of  the  city  of 
York.  The  charge  was,  that  they  had  taught  the  young  king 
to  distrust  Richard  the  protector.  Richard  took  on  himself  to 
conduct  Edward  to  London.  The  queen,  hearing  of  these 
things,  foresaw  the  coming  ills,  and  fled  at  midnight  with  her 
other  son  and  daughter,  into  Westminster  abbey.  This  was 
unavailing,  as  Richard  contrived  to  possess  himself  of  both 
sons,  Edward  and  Richard,  and  lodged  them  in  the  tower.  He 
pretended  that  this  measure  was  necessary  to  their  safety. 

On  the  13th  of  June,  Richard  called  a  council  at  the  tower  to 
consult  on  the  coronation.  He  appeared,  at  first,  to  be  in  very 
good  humor.  He  retired  for  an  hour,  and  returning  with  a 
countenance  indicative  of  the  highest  displeasure,  made  bare 
his  shrivelled  arm,  (which  every  one  present  knew  to  have 
been  so  from  his  youth,)  and  demanded  what  should  be  done  to 
the  sorceress  who  had  so  afflicted  him?  This  inquiry  is  sup- 
posed by  some  historians  to  allude  to  the  queen  ;  by  others,  to 
Jane  Shore,  with  whom  Hastings  was  supposed  to  have  had  an 
intimacy.  Richard  then  striking  violently  on  the  table,  armed 
men  rushed  into  the  room,  and  seized  the  lords  whom  Richard 
desired  to  secure.  Hastings  was  taken  down  to  the  yard,  and 
his   head  severed  from  his  body   on  a  log;  the  others  were 


RICHARD    III. 


161 


confined  in  different  apartments.  On  the  same  day,  the 
duke  of  Rivers,  Sir  Richard  Gray,  and  Sir  Thomas  Vaughan, 
who  were  confined  at  Pomfret  castle,  in  the  north,  were  mur- 
dered by  Richard's  order.  Richard  Radcliffe  had  been  com- 
missioned to  perform  this  deed,  to  which  Hastings  advised. 
His  own  execution  took  place  at  the  very  hour  when  the  pris- 
oners at  Pomfret  castle  were  murdered. 

The  sadden  change  of  Richard  towards  Hastings  is  thus 
accounted  for.  Hastings  had  introduced  one  Catesby  to  Rich- 
ard as  a  person  capable  of  being  useful.  Richard  employed 
this  man  to  sound  Hastings ;  he  did  so,  and  reported  that  Hast- 
ings hated  the  queen,  and  desired  to  deprive  her  of  all  power ; 
but  that  he  was  affectionately  attached  to  Edward's  children. 
Richard  thereupon  concerted  the  meeting  in  the  tower,  that  he 
might  seize  and  murder  Hastings. 

Richard,  to  open  his  way  to  the  crown,  had  not  only  to 
murder  his  nephews,  but  to  impress  the  public  mind  with  the 
belief  that  they  were  illegitimate.  Lest  this  measure  should 
not  fully  answer  his  purpose,  he  conceived  the  project  (which 
gives  him  a  place  apart  from  all  other  men  that  ever  lived)  of 
blasting  the  fame  of  his  own  mother.  He  attempted  to  have  it 
believed  that  his  brother  Edward  was  the  offspring  of  adultery, 
and  himself  the  only  lawful  issue  of  his  mother's  marriage. 
In  the  execution  of  these  horrible  designs,  he  caused  Jane 
Shore  to  be  accused  as  the  mistress  of  his  brother,  and  con- 
demned to  penance.  This  unfortunate  woman  was  thus  made 
to  suffer,  and  finally  to  die  in  a  ditch,  the  location  of  which  is 
known  by  the  name  of  a  street  in  London.  He  also  caused 
a  certain  Dr.  Shaw  to  preach  a  sermon,  on  the  15th  of  June, 
from  the  text, — "  Bastard  ships  shall  not  thrive."  The  object 
of  this  sermon  was  to  prove  the  illegitimacy  of  Edward's  chil- 
dren. Richard  expected  that  the  people  assembled  there, 
would  be  moved  to  proclaim  him.  Having  failed  in  this,  he 
obtained,  through  his  creatures,  a  collection  of  persons,  who 
were  asked,  by  Buckingham,  whether  they  would  have  Rich- 
ard for  king.  The  faint  response  was  deemed  sufficient  for 
him  to  assume  the  rank  of  king,  and  to  style  himself  the  third 
Richard. 

At  what  time,  in  what  manner,  and  by  what  hand  Richard 
caused  his  two  nephews  to  be  murdered  in  the  tower,  is  not 
certainly  known.  Robert  Brakenbury,  the  constable  of  the 
tower,  is  supposed  to  have  refused  to  murder  them ;  but  sur- 
rendered his  keys,  for  one  night,  to  Sir  James  Tyrrel ;  and 
under  his  direction  the  act  was  done,  by  smothering  them  in 
14* 


162  RICHARD    III. 

the  bed  in  which  they  were  sleeping.  Three  persons,  Slater, 
Dighton,  and  Forest,  were  selected  by  Tyrrel,  as  the  immedi- 
ate agents  in  the  murder. 

Richard  discerned  the  necessity  of  strengthening  himself, 
and  seems  to  have  had  but  two  modes  of  doing  this ;  rewards, 
honors,  riches,  to  accomplices  in  iniquity,  and  peace-offerings 
to  those  whom  he  dreaded.  But  within  three  months  a  plan 
had  been  laid  to  bring  over  the  young  earl  of  Richmond  from 
France,  and  marry  him  to  Elizabeth,  (Edward's  oldest  daugh- 
ter,) and  to  assert  his  claim  to  the  crown.  The  same  Bucking- 
ham, (who  seems  to  have  had  from  Richard  all  he  asked,  and 
to  have  had  little  modesty  in  asking,)  headed  this  combination 
against  Richard,  assisted  by  the  marquis  of  Dorset,  and  the 
bishop  of  Ely.  Within  five  months  of  the  day  when  Buck- 
ingham -invited  the  rabble  to  accept  Richard  for  their  king,  he 
was  brought  before  Richard  as  a  conspirator  and  traitor,  and 
immediately  beheaded,  without  the  ceremony  of  a  trial.  The 
marquis  and  the  bishop  escaped  to  the  continent.  Several  oth- 
ers, less  fortunate,  were  executed. 

Another  mode  occurred  to  Richard  of  retaining  his  hold  on 
the  crown;  a  marriage  with  the  known  lawful  heiress,  Eliza- 
beth, daughter  of  Edward.  There  were  two  obstacles;  one 
that  Richard  had  a  Avife  living,  the  other  that  the  marriage 
would  be  incestuous.  He  removed  the  first  by  poisoning  his 
wife.  The  second  obstacle  required  the  consent  of  Edward's 
widow.  Richard  had  murdered  her  brother,  her  sou,  (Lord 
Gray,)  and  her  two  sons,  (the  young  princes,)  and  now  propos- 
ed to  become  the  husband  of  her  daughter.  The  mother  of 
Elizabeth  must  have  understood  Richard  to  say, — "  It  is  true 
that  the  crown  which  your  deceased  husband  wore,  rightfully 
descended  to  your  son.  I  despoiled  him,  and  placed  the  crown 
on  my  own  head.  That  your  son  might  not  demand  that  of 
which  I  had  robbed  him,  nor  his  brother,  who  would  be  next 
entitled,  I  have  put  them  both  to  death.  Your  daughters  are 
entitled  next  after  your  sons.  If  they  were  all  murdered,  I 
should  be  the' lawful  successor  of  your  husband.  As  your 
daughter  Elizabeth  is  now  entitled,  let  me  marry  her,  make 
her  a  queen,  and  thus  secure  the  crown  to  myself."  Whether 
fear,  ambition,  the  hope  of  triumph  over  the  old  nobility,  (her 
well-known  enemies,)  or  other  motive,  influenced  the  queen, 
she  consented  to  give  her  daughter  to  the  most  detestable  of 
men,  in  person  and  heart.  But  the  opinion  of  the  public  pro- 
nounced a  judgment  on  this  proposal  which  even  the  audacious 
Richard  could  not  resist.  Debased  as  that  age  was,  moral  sen- 


RICHARD    III.  163 

timent  enough  remained  to  declare  a  union  between  Richard 
and  Elizabeth,  inadmissible.  Debased  and  daring  as  Richard 
was,  he  felt  that  such  a  union  would  call  forth  an  expression  of 
horror  of  him,  and  of  his  dominion,  which  might  cost  him  the 
throne  and  his  life. 

Whether  a  domestic  insurrection  or  an  invasion  by  the 
young  earl  of  Richmond,  would  happen,  or  both,  was  a  mat- 
ter that  commanded  Richard's  attention.  He  prepared  to  meet 
his  dangers  by  force.  Richmond  being  of  Welsh  descent, 
and  expecting  the  aid  of  his  countrymen,  landed  at  Milford- 
Haven  (the  extreme  west  point  of  Wales)  on  the  7th  of  Au- 
gust, 1485.  He  brought  with  him  only  two  thousand  men. 
Richard  had  posted  himself  in  the  central  part  of  his  kingdom, 
at  Nottingham,  and  thence  moved  westwardly,  on  hearing  of 
Richmond's  landing.  The  place  of  meeting  on  the  22d  of 
August  was  Bos  worth,  northwest  from  London,  and  midway 
between  that  city  and  Liverpool.  Richmond's  army  had  in- 
creased to  six  thousand.  Richard  had  double  that  number, 
including  those  which  lord  Stanley  and  his  brother  William 
led,  amounting  to  one  half  of  his  force. 

The  earl  of  Oxford,  Sir  Gilbert  Talbot,  Sir  John  Savage, 
and  the  earl  of  Pembroke,  were  leaders  on  Richmond's  side. 
The  duke  of  Norfolk,  lord  Stanley,  and  Sir  William  Stanley 
were  leaders  on  Richard's  side.  Soon  after  the  battle  began, 
lord  Stanley,  and  soon  after  his  brother  also,  declared  for 
Richmond.  Richard's  case  was  now  desperate.  He  had  a 
single  chance,  that  of  slaying  Richmond  with  his  own  hand. 
He  sought  Richmond  and  found  him,  but,  at  the  same  mo- 
ment, Sir  William  Stanley  came  up  with  his  troops  and  sur- 
rounded Richard,  who  died,  fighting  bravely  to  the  last.  There 
fell  also  in  this  battle  most  of  Richard's  associates  in  crime  : 
the  duke  of  Norfolk,  lord  Ferrars,  Sir  Richard  RatclifTe,  Sir 
Robert  Piercy,  Sir  Robert  Brakenbury.  Sir  William  Catesby 
was  taken  and  beheaded.  Richard's  body  was  found,  thrown 
over  a  horse,  carried  to  Leicester,  and  buried  there.  Richard 
was,  probably,  between  thirty-eight  and  forty  on  the  day  of 
this  battle. 

It  is  said,  by  one  historian,  that  Richmond  did  not  manifest 
much  inclination  to  come  within  the  reach  of  Richard's  sword, 
but  rather  put  himself  in  a  defensive  attitude  when  he  saw 
Richard  approach.  He  had  not,  probably,  seen  Richard  be- 
fore, but  could  not  doubt  when  he  saw  him,  for  Richard 
intended  to  survive  that  battle  as  king,  or  die  in  it  as  king. 
He  wore  his  crown.     After  he  fell,  a  common  soldier  brought 


164  HENRY    Til* 

the  crown  to  Sir  William  Stanley,  who  placed  it  on  Rich- 
mond's head,  and  saluted  him  as  Henry  VII. 

From  the  time  of  Henry  VI.'s  marriage  with  Margaret  of 
Anjou,  to  the  death  of  Richard  III.,  (forty  years,)  all  the 
princes  of  the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster  perished  on  the 
field  or  at  the  block,  besides  a  great  number  of  the  principal 
nobles  of  the  kingdom,  and  an  unknown  number  of  inferior 
nobles,  gentry,  and  private  persons.  The  loss,  independently 
of  rank,  was  a  serious  one  to  the  nation,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
distresses  which  accompanied  this  loss.  The  whole  popula- 
tion of  England  is  supposed  not  to  have  exceeded  three  mil- 
lions. 

In  Richard's  short  reign  there  was  but  one  session  of  par- 
liament. Considering  the  disturbed  state  of  the  kingdom,  the 
acts  of  this  session  are  remarkable.  There  were  fifteen  acts, 
seven  of  them  were  for  the  regulation  of  commerce  and  manu- 
factures. Prior  to  this  session,  all  laws  were  written  in  barba- 
rous Latin  or  French,  both  unintelligible  to  the  mass  of  the 
people.  In  this,  and  all  future  parliaments,  the  laws  were 
enacted  in  English.  The  acts  of  Richard's  parliament  were 
the  first  that  were  printed.     (Macpherson,  vol.  i.  p.  704.) 

Henry  VII.  began  his  reign  on  the  field  of  Bosworth.  If 
he  claimed  the  crown  as  a  Lancastrian,  there  were  descendants 
from  John  of  Gaunt  (the  son  of  Edward  III.)  in  .Spain,  who 
had  better  claims  than  his.  He  could  not  claim  from  the 
house  of  York  by  marriage  with  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of 
Edward  IV. ;  that  union  had  not  taken  place.  There  was  a 
son  of  George,  duke  of  Clarence,  (called  Edward  Plantage- 
net,  earl  of  Warwick,)  who  might  have  been  thought  to  have 
a  better  right  even  than  Elizabeth,  though  only  nephew  of 
Edward  IV.  The  claim  of  conquest  was  inadmissible.  Rich- 
mond had  conquered  an  usurper,  not  the  nation.  One  con- 
dition of  supporting  Richmond  was,  that  he  should  marry 
Elizabeth,  which  he  did,  but  with  delay  and  apparent  reluc- 
tance, on  the  14th  of  January,  1486.  Henry's  policy  and 
feeling  were  entirely  Lancastrian,  and  his  repugnance  to  the 
Yorkists  hardly  veiled,  and  never  overcome,  even  as  to  his 
wife.  Henry's  life  was  devoted  to  two  objects,  gathering 
riches  and  securing  himself  on  the  throne. 

Margaret,  the  sister  of  Edward  IV,  had  married  the  duke 
of  Burgundy.  This  lady  is  supposed  to  have  invented  the 
plan  of  causing  one  Lambert  Symnel  to  peisonate  Edward 
Plantagenet,  (above  named,)  and  to  claim  the  crown.     This 


HENRY    VII.  165 

Edward  was  then  safely  in  the  tower,  and  Henry  ordered  him 
to  be  led  through  the  streets  of  London,  on  horseback,  to  show 
that  Symnel  was  an  impostor.  But  the  supporters  of  Symnel 
gathered  an  army  in  the  west,  which  penetrated  to  the  middle 
of  the  kingdom,  where  it  was  met  and  vanquished.  Symnel 
was  taken,  and  made  a  turnspit  in  the  king's  kitchen. 

Six  years  afterwards  (1493)  another  pretender  appeared,  Per- 
kin  Warbeck,  claiming  to  be  Richard,  duke  of  York,  second  son 
of  Edward  IV.  This  person  is  supposed  to  have  been  moved 
to  this  adventure  by  the  same  Margaret,  sister  of  Edward  IV., 
duchess  of  Burgundy.  He  pursued  his  purpose  six  years, 
and  was  sometimes  well  sustained  in  Scotland,  Ireland,  and 
Wales.  He  was  at  length  taken,  or  surrendered  himself,  and 
imprisoned  in  the  tower  in  1499.  The  son  of  George,  duke 
of  Clarence,  called  the  earl  of  Warwick,  nephew  of  Edward 
IV.,  had  been  a  prisoner  there  for  fifteen  years.  His  offence 
was,  that  he  was  one  of  the  house  of  York.  He  had  lived 
without  any  companion,  without  any  instruction,  and  without 
the  power  of  instructing  himself,  as  his  apartment  was  too 
dark  to  discern  letters  Yet  this  unfortunate  boy  was  accused 
and  executed  for  treason.  When  Perkin  Warbeck  was  impris- 
oned in  the  same  place,  he  was  charged  Avith  having  plotted 
with  the  simple  Warwick  to  escape.  In  the  close  of  1499, 
both  these  young  persons  were  executed.  Mcintosh  gives 
a  mournful  and  disgraceful  solution  to  this  apparent  act  of 
barbarity.  Henry  desired  to  marry  his  son  Arthur,  prince 
of  Wales,  to  Catherine  of  Arragon,  daughter  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella.  The  marriage  contract  was  delayed  for  the 
reason  that  Ferdinand  thought  Henry  insecure,  while  any  one 
of  the  house  of  York  existed.  Perkin  Warbeck  was  there- 
upon used,  though  uninformed  himself  of  the  purpose  or  con- 
sequences, to  draw  Warwick  into  the  commission  of  some  act 
which  might  apparently  forfeit  his  life.  This  could  not  be 
done  vvithout  forfeiting  his  own  life,  and  both  were  executed. 
This  criminal  measure  may  have  accomplished  Henry's  pur- 
pose. Arthur  married  Catherine,  but  died  within  six  months 
afterwards. 

Sir  James  Mcintosh  refers  to  Lord  Bacon  as  an  authority 
for  the  fact,  that  the  destruction  of  Warwick,  the  last  of  the 
male  Plantagenets,  was  an  indispensable  condition  of  the  mar- 
riage of  Arthur  and  Catherine.  This  fact  seems  to  have 
been  known  to  Catherine;  for,  when  she  had  become  the  wife 
of  Arthur's  brother,  (Henry  VIII.,)  and  the  latter  had  resolved 
on  a  divorce,  Catherine  said, — "  The  divorce  is  a  judgment  of 
God,  for  that  my  former  marriage  was  made  in  blood  !  " 


166  HENRY    VII. 

The  government  of  Henry  seems  to  have  been  sufficiently 
unpopular  to  make  many  persons  of  high  rank  desire  some 
other  state  of  things.  Many  believed  Warbeck  to  be  the  son 
of  Edward  IV.,  and  were  inclined  favorably  to  him.  Among 
others,  Sir  William  Stanley,  the  same  person  who  decided  the 
fate  of  the  battle  of  Bosworth,  was  accused,  condemned,  and 
executed.  Many  others  were  executed  on  like  charges.  Stan- 
ley was  own  brother  to  the  earl  of  Derby,  who  was  the  hus- 
band of  the  king's  mother.  But  Henry  is  charged  with 
desiring  the  death  of  Stanley  as  a  traitor,  rather  because  the 
great  estates  and  riches  of  that  nobleman  would  be  forfeited, 
than  to  punish  his  offence  Henry's  conduct,  in  this  matter, 
would  stamp  a  private  character,  in  these  days,  with  infamy. 

Henry  involved  himself,  to  some  extent,  in  the  conflicts  and 
politics  of  the  continent.  No  event  arose  from  these  causes 
material  to  be  noticed.  An  important  event  happened  in 
Henry's  time  in  relation  to  Scotland.  The  destructive  wars 
which  had  been  carried  on  for  centuries  between  the  north  and 
south  parts  of  the  island,  were  terminated  by  the  marriage  of 
Henry's  daughter,  Elizabeth  Tudor,  with  James  IV.,  king  of 
Scotland.  From  this  marriage  the  house  of  Stuart  came  to 
the  crown  of  England  in  the  person  of  James  I.,  when  the 
house  of  Tudor  became  extinct  by  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  the 
grand-daughter  of  Henry 

The  reign  of  Henry  was,  on  the  whole,  fortunate  for  Eng- 
land. Though  the  king's  strongest  passion  was  avarice,  and 
though  this  passion  was  indulged  by  him  to  excess,  yet  the 
nation  had  repose,  after  long  and  ruinous  convulsions.  They 
endured  the  most  arbitrary  dominion  which  had  been  experi- 
enced since  the  time  of  king  John,  when  the  great  charter  was 
extorted.  But  the  fear  of  bringing  on  civil  convulsions  again, 
and  the  terror  which  Henry's  severe  government  had  diffused, 
preserved  the  country  in  peace. 

Henry  had  two  principal  counsellors,  John  Morton  and 
Richard  Fox,  on  whom  he  bestowed  the  highest  offices  of 
church  and  state;  and  two  unprincipled  and  obedient  lawyers, 
Sir  Richard  Empson  and  Edmund  Dudley,  whom  he  employ- 
ed to  rob  his  subjects  under  the  forms  of  civil  and  criminal 
process.  The  sole  object  was  to  accumulate  money  for  money's 
sake,  and  not  to  expend  it,  either  for  the  public  or  himself. 
He  seems  to  have  been  destitute  of  passions  and  affections, 
absorbed  in  himself,  and  valuing  himself  only  as  tenant  of  a 
throne  and  as  a  gatherer  of  riches.  One  case  will  be  sufficient 
to  show  the  character  of  the  monarch  and  the  man. 


HENRY    VII. 


167 


The  earl  of  Oxford  resided  at  his  castle  at  Henningham : 
the  king  visited  the  earl  at  that  place.  There  was  a  law  in 
force  which  made  it  penal  for  the  great  lords  to  retain  in  their 
service  numerous  followers  in  livery  and  badges,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  employing  them  in  quarrels  and  in  petty  wars,  offen- 
sive and  defensive.  This  law  discloses  the  fact,  that  the  great 
lords  strengthened  themselves  by  enlisting  these  dependants  in 
their  train,  giving  them  the  appearance  of  domestic  servants. 
The  king  had  been  faithfully  served  by  the  earl  of  Oxford  in 
the  cabinet  and  the  field,  and  a  friendly  relation  existed  be- 
tween them.  On  this  occasion,  Oxford  had  spared  no  exertion 
to  do  honor  to  his  guest.  The  visit  being  paid,  and  the  king 
about  departing,  he  saw  that  Oxford  had  formed  a  long  line  of 
men,  dressed  in  rich  liveries,  for  him  to  pass  through.  The 
king  said  to  Oxford, — "  These  handsome  gentlemen  and  yeo- 
men, on  each  side  of  me  are,  surely,  your  menial  servants." 
Oxford  said  no,  they  were  only  retained  by  him  to  perform 
extraordinary  service.  The  king  replied, — "  I  thank  you  for 
your  good  cheer,  but  my  laws  must  not  be  broken  before  my 
face.  My  attorney  must  talk  with  you."  Empson  and  Dud- 
ley were  set  to  work,  and  the  affair  cost  the  earl  fifteen  thou- 
sand marks,  (nearly  forty-five  thousand  dollars.) 

Henry  devoted  many  of  the  latter  years  of  his  life  to  form- 
ing alliances  with  royal  families,  by  marrying  his  children. 
He  hoped,  by  these  means,  to  strengthen  his  family  on  the 
throne.  This  was  the  object  in  marrying  Arthur  to  Catherine 
of  Arragon,  and  Elizabeth  to  James  IV.  of  Scotland.  The 
king's  character  was  shown  in  the  first  of  these  marriages. 
He  was  to  have  two  hundred  thousand  crowns  with  Catherine. 
Half  was  paid.  Before  the  other  half  was  due,  Arthur  died. 
Henry  was  thereby  liable  to  be  deprived  of  the  second  half, 
and  to  be  obliged  to  restore  the  first ;  but  he  avoided  both  by 
getting  a  papal  dispensation  for  the  marriage  of  his  son  (Henry 
VIII.)  with  the  widow  of  his  brother. 

In  the  fifty-second  year  of  his  age,  Henry  perceived  that  his 
days  were  soon  to  be  numbered.  Remorse  came  upon  him  for 
his  severe  and  rapacious  exercise  of  power.  He  did  some  acts 
in  the  spirit  of  contrition  and  atonement,  and  ordered  more  by 
his  will.  But  his  profligate  successor  had  other  uses  for  the 
treasure  which  Henry  accumulated.  His  death  occurred  the 
22d  of  April  1509,  at  Richmond,  (his  favorite  abode,)  without 
drawing  a  sigh  or  a  tear,  probably,  from  any  survivor.  Mcin- 
tosh says, —  "  His  good  qualities  were  useful,  but  low  ;  his 
vices  were  mean,  and  no  person  in  history,  of  so  much  under- 


168  AUTHORS. 

standing  and  courage,  is  so  near  being-  despised."  This  writer 
is  more  gracious  to  king  Henry,  then  is  consistent  with  the 
truth  ;  and  less  severe  upon  him  as  a  man,  than  is  consistent 
with  justice. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  the  aftermentioned  persons  flourish- 
ed in  the  years  placed  against  their  names  : — 

1415.  John  Van  Eyk,  founder  of  the  Flemish  school,  dis- 
covered the  use  of  oil  in  mixing  paints. 

John  Huss,  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  who  were  burnt  by  or- 
der of  the  council  of  Constance. 

1420.  Gasparini,  of  Bergamo,  author  of  the  first  book  print- 
ed in  France.      1490. 

1439.  Moustrelet,  who  continued  Froissart's  chronicles. 

1440.  Lawrence  Valla,  renewed  in  Italy  the  beauties  of  the 
Latin  language. 

1449.  Ulugh  Beigh,  grandson  of  Tamerlane  the  Great, 
author  of  learned  works. 

1450.  Sir  John  Fortescue,  chief  justice  of  king's  bench, 
author  of  a  valuable  work  on  the  laws  of  England.  (De  laudi- 
bus  Legum  Anglian.) 

1458  Finniguerra,  of  Florence,  first  produced  prints  by  en- 
graving on  copper.  Eneas  Sylvius,  (pope  pius  11.)  a  writer 
often  quoted,  historian,  &c.  Thomas  A  Kempis,  celebrated 
divine  and  writer. 

1470.  Thomas  Littleton,  English  lawyer;  lord  Coke  com- 
mented on  his  work.  Antony,  of  Palermo,  sold  his  house  to 
buy  a  manuscript  of  Livy. 

1481.  Rodolphus  Agrocola,  who  first  introduced  the  study 
of  Greek,  in  Germany. 

1490.   William  Caxton,  first  printer  in  England. 

1498.  Philip  de  Comines,  biographer  of  Louis  XT. 

1500.  Leonardo  de  Vinci,  of  Florence,  said  to  be  the  first 
who  reduced  the  art  of  painting  to  fixed  principles.  He  expir- 
ed in  the  arms  of  Francis  I.,  of  France. 

In  this  century,  there  were  many  others  who  distinguished 
themselves  as  historians,  poets,  grammarians,  translators,  teach- 
ers, &c,  showing  that  the  cultivation  of  the  mind  had  now  be- 
come an  object  of  attention  in  Europe.  That  one,  among 
them  all,  most  ]  lown  at  this  day,  was  Nicholas  Machiavel,  of 
Florence,  born  1469,  died  1527,  in  poverty,  though  he  had 
been  high  in  office.  He  wrote  History  of  Florence — Dis- 
courses on  Living — On  the  Art  Military — and  his  famous 
work  entitled  the  Prince.  The  latter  gave  him  a  bad  name, 
but  some  persons  consider  it  a  satire  on  tyranny. 


SPAIN.  169 

In  the  last  half  of  this  century,  printing  was  invented,  and 
came  into  use  in  many  parts  of  Europe.  Great  changes  had 
been  made  in  warfare,  from  the  common  use  of  gunpowder, 
and  small  fire-arms.  The  passage  by  sea  to  Eastern  Asia  had 
been  discovered,  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The  west- 
ern continent  had  been  discovered.  From  these,  and  other 
causes,  great  revolutions  occurred  in  the  following  century. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

SPAIN. 

Early  Population — Gothic  Kingdom — Introduction  of  the  Catholic  Relig- 
ion— Northern  Kingdoms  of  Spain — Invasion  of  the  Moors — Wars 
between  the  Northern  Kingdoms  and  the  Moors. 

SrAiN  is  the  most  westwardly  country  of  Europe,  except 
Ireland.  It  is  situated  between  the  degrees  of  thirty-six  and 
forty-four,  north  latitude,  and  the  degrees  of  three  and  ten,  east 
longitude  from  Greenwich.  Its  extent  from  north  to  south  is 
540  miles ;  from  east  to  west  it  is  560  miles.  Its  superficial 
surface  contains  225,600  square  miles,  including  Portugal. 
On  the  north-east  it  is  separated  from  France  by  the  Pyren- 
ees ;  on  all  other  parts  it  is  bounded  by  the  sea.  It  is,  there- 
fore, often  called  the  Peninsula.  Its  surface  is  remarkable 
for  the  lofty  ranges  of  mountains,  and  for  the  elevated  plains 
which  are  placed  between  these  ranges.  There  are  five 
ranges,  which  begin  in  the  Pyrenees,  and  traverse  Spain  west- 
wardly and  southwardly.  From  these  ranges,  spurs  extend 
and  meet,  and  thus  form  the  location  of  these  plains.  The 
plain  on  which  Madrid,  the  capital,  stands,  is  two  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  nearly  surrounded  by  moun- 
tains. The  plain  of  La  Mancha,  south  of  that,  is  still  higher, 
probably  the  highest  in  Europe.  In  ancient  days  there  were 
gold  mines  in  some  of  these  regions,  and  some  metals  are  still 
obtained  from  them.  There  are  five  great  rivers,  which  run 
from  the  north-east  to  the  south-west,  and  one  to  the  south-east. 
The  valleys  through  which  these  rivers  run  are  fertile,  and 
some  of  them  delightful.  Some  of  the  mountains  are  more 
than  a  third  higher  than  any  in  the  United  States  ;  that  is, 
between  ten  and  eleven  thousand  feet.  The  great  rivers  have 
many  tributaries ;  they  are  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty  in 
15 


170  SPAIN. 

number,  but,  from  the  mountainous  form  of  the  country,  none 
but  the  great  rivers  are  navigable.  It  has  been  suggested  that 
the  singular  formation  of  Spain,  in  having  territories  severed 
from  each  other  by  mountains  difficult  to  pass,  may  have  occa- 
sioned the  variety  of  political  and  moral  character  which  has 
been  noticed,  from  time  to  time,  in  this  country.  From  the 
variety  of  climates,  the  qualities  of  the  soil,  and  natural  riches, 
Spain  might  be  powerful ;  but  despotism  and  the  church  have 
overshadowed  it. 

Some  writers  suppose  that  Spain  and  Portugal  were  first 
possessed  by  a  people  cal-led  Iberians,  a  branch  of  the  ancient 
Kimmerian  race,  while  others  consider  the  Celts  as  the  origi- 
nal people,  who  were  descended  from  that  race.  Long  before 
the  Christian  era,  the  Phoenicians  (from  Tyre  and  Sidon)  had 
found  their  way  to  Spain,  and  after  them  the  Carthaginians, 
and  both  had  colonies  there.  The  Greeks,  undoubtedly,  colo- 
nized the  south-eastern  shore  of  Spain,  and  there  are  relics  of 
Grecian  ceremonies  which  time  and  revolutions  have  failed  to 
obliterate.  About  219  years  B.  C.  the  memorable  siege  of  the 
city  of  Saguntum  (then  in  alliance  with  Rome)  was  carried 
on  by  Hannibal,  and  the  city  conquered.  It  stood  where  Mur- 
viedro  now  stands,  on  the  south-east  coast  of  Spain,  near  the 
middle  of  Valencia.  It  cost  the  Romans  a  vigorous  warfare 
of  more  than  two  hundred  years  to  conquer  the  native  people 
of  Spain — accomplished  by  Agrippa  in  the  year  8  B.  C,  in 
the  time  of  Augustus.  This  country  continued  to  be  a  Ro- 
man province  about  four  hundred  years;  and  was  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  valuable  appendages  of  the  empire. — 
Its  Hesperian  name  was  given  by  the  Greeks,  signifying 
western,  while  its  Spanish  name  is  thought  to  be  of  Phoeni- 
cian origin,  signifying  the  land  of  rabbits.  These  animals 
must  have  been  very  abundant,  to  have  given  a  name  to  a 
country,  then  and  still  distinguishable  from  most  others  by 
many  qualities  more  likely  to  have  suggested  a  name. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  fifth  century,  the  Gothic  invad- 
ers had  reached  Spain.  The  Roman  empire  was  then  yield- 
ing every  where,  from  its  own  imbecility  and  the  force  and 
numbers  of  the  barbarians.  The  tribes  who  possessed  them- 
selves of  Spain  about  this  time,  were  the  Suevi,  Alans,  and 
Vandals.  From  the  latter,  that  beautiful  portion  in  the  west 
of  Spain  now  called  Andalusia,  has  its  name.  In  419,  the 
Visigoths,  under  Wallia,  founded  their  kingdom,  and  drove 
the  Vandals  into  Africa.  Euric,  in  484,  extended  his  king- 
dom still  further,  expelled  the  Romans,  and  established  a  code 


SPAIN.  171 

of  written  laws.  In  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century,  all  of 
the  Peninsula,  except  the  small  kingdom  now  called  Gallicia, 
in  the  north-west  corner  of  Spain,  then  held  by  the  Suevi,  had 
submitted  to  the  Visigoths,  and  was  then  ruled  by  Alaric,  son 
of  the  first  king  of  this  people,  whom  historians  call  the  Great 
Euric.  The  kingdom  of  Alaric  included  a  large  portion  of 
the  south  of  France,  as  well  as  most  of  Spain.  All  of  France 
not  held  by  the  Burgundians,  (along  the  Rhone  and  between  it 
and  the  Alps,)  was  held  by  the  founder  of  the  French  mon- 
archy, Clovis. 

In  527,  Clovis  and  the  Visigoth  king  Alaric,  fought  a  bat- 
tle, in  which  great  numbers  were  engaged.  The  result  enabled 
Clovis  to  extend  his  empire  to  the  Pyrenees.  Clovis  led  his 
numerous  hosts  from  Paris  south-west wardly,  through  Orleans 
and  Tours,  and  crossed  the  Loire  at  the  latter  place,  and  in  his 
way  towards  Poictiers,  near  to  which  Alaric  had  advanced  from 
the  south,  with  his  hosts.  The  Vienne,  a  tributary  branch  of 
the  Loire,  having  been  suddenly  increased  by  rains,  was  found 
to  be  impassable.  In  this  difficulty,  and  when  delay  was  more 
perilous  than  battle,  a  white  stag,  of  extraordinary  size  and 
beauty,  suddenly  appeared  and  passed  the  river,  in  view  of  the 
Franks,  and  thereby  disclosed  a  ford,  of  which  Clovis  availed 
himself,  and  came  unexpectedly  on  his  foe.  Clovis  killed 
Alaric  with  his  own  hand,  and  (Gibbon  says)  "  the  victorious 
Frank  was  saved  by  the  goodness  of  his  cuirass  and  the  vigor 
of  his  horse,  from  the  spears  of  two  desperate  Goths,  who 
furiously  rode  against  him  to  avenge  the  death  of  their  sove- 
reign." With  regard  to  the  stag,  it  should  be  mentioned  that 
the  historians  of  those  days  were  monks,  and  that  Clovis  had 
recently  become  a  convert.  This  tremendous  battle  was  fought 
about  ten  miles  south-west  of  Poictiers,  and  is  sometimes  called 
the  battle  of  Vouille,  from  the  name  of  the  neighboring  vil- 
lage. 

In  585,  the  Suevi  in  Gallicia  were  subdued  by  the  Visi- 
goths, and  thus  the  whole  of  the  Peninsula  became  Gothic. 
In  586,  the  Catholic  religion  was  introduced,  and  with  it 
monks,  priests,  and  bishops,  and  they  introduced  the  Latin 
language,  already  much  corrupted,  as  the  language  of  wor- 
ship. The  Visigoths  had  become  converts  to  Christianity 
before  they  conquered  Spain  ;  but,  like  many  other  barbarian 
tribes,  they  were  not  of  Nicene  or  Catholic  faith,  but  were 
Arians.  At  this  time,  the  king  of  the  Visigoths  was  named 
Leovigild,  an  Arian.  Herminigild,  his  son,  had  become  a 
devout  Catholic,  and  revolted  against  his  father.     After  many 


172  SPAIN. 

unsuccessful  attempts,  on  the  part  of  the  son,  to  obtain  the 
dominion,  and,  on  the  part  of  the  father,  to  bring  the  son  to  a 
sense  of  his  duties,  the  father  ordered  the  son  to  be  put  to 
death,  in  the  tower  of  Seville.  The  second  son,  Recared, 
succeeded  to  the  throne,  and,  being  a  Catholic,  established  that 
form  of  Christianity  in  Spain,  and  connected  it  with  the  royal 
authority.  In  the  whole  space  of  the  seventh  century,  the 
history  of  this  country  teaches  nothing  which  was  not  common 
to  most  other  countries.  There  were  the  usual  contentions 
for  the  exercise  of  a  despotic  power,  and,  consequently,  a  pro- 
portionate amount  of  crimes  and  sufferings.  There  were,  also, 
all  the  oppressions  and  miseries  which  religious  contentions 
produce  when  the  clerical  authority  is  either  sustained  or 
opposed  by  the  power  of  a  temporal  despot.  It  may  be  worth 
while  to  mention  some  few  circumstances,  rather  as  amusement 
than  instruction. 

In  656,  the  throne  being  vacant,  the  electors  were  embar- 
rassed in  choosing  a  king.  At  length  Wamba,  a  nobleman, 
was  chosen.  He  said  he  knew  better  than  any  one  else  did 
what  he  was,  and  what  he  was  not  qualified  for ;  and  that  he 
was  not  qualified  to  be  a  king.  Whereupon,  one  of  the  elec- 
tors said  to  him, — "  Whoever  persists  in  refusing  to  contribute 
to  the  good  of  the  country,  is  as  much  an  enemy  of  the  state 
as  he  who  attempts  to  hurt  it ;  "  and  then  laying  his  hand  on 
his  sword,  threatened  to  run  it  through  Wamba's  body  if  he 
did  not  accept.  Though  Wamba  well  deserved  his  place,  he 
was  too  good  a  king  for  his  time.  A  conspiracy  was  formed, 
and  he  was  removed  in  a  singular  manner.  An  ecclesiastic 
could  not  be  a  king.  Wamba  was  suddenly  converted  into 
one  of  this  order.  A  sleeping  potion  was  given  to  him,  and, 
while  he  was  insensible,  he  was  clothed  like  a  monk,  and  his 
head  shaved.  When  his  senses  returned,  it  was  declared  that 
he  had  renounced  the  world,  and,  consequently,  his  kingdom. 
This  ingenious  measure  is  ascribed  to  Erviga,  who  was  elected 
king-,  or  who  took  the  crown  on  the  deposition  of  Wamba,  in 
683: 

The  next  Visigoth  king,  but  one,  was  called  Witiza.  He 
is  represented  to  have  been  a  barbarian.  An  event  occurred 
in  his  time  which  produced  most  important  and  enduring  con- 
sequences, and  which  has  some  resemblance  to  a  striking  event 
in  Roman  history.  A  revolution  was  effected  in  Rome,  and 
the  Tarquins  and  royalty  banished  by  the  people,  in  conse- 
quence of  an  outrage  committed  by  one  of  the  Tarquins  on 
Lucretia,  daughter  of  Brutus,  and  wife  of  Collatinus.     A  sim- 


SPAIN.  173 

ilar  act  of  Witiza,  in  relation  to  a  daughter  of  count  Julien, 
caused  the  introduction  of  the  Moors  into  Spain,  and  the  sub- 
jection of  it  to  their  dominion  for  eight  hundred  years.  The 
enraged  and  inconsolable  father  sought  revenge.  The  Ara- 
bians had  conquered  and  converted  the  Moors,  on  the  opposite 
coast  of  Africa,  the  inhabitants  of  the  ancient  Mauritania  of 
the  Romans.  Musa  ruled  here  as  the  lieutenant  of  the  Ara- 
bian caliph,  whose  seat  of  empire  was  at  Damascus.  Count 
Julien  invited  Musa  to  invade  Spain.  Gibbon  discredits  this 
fact.  A  one-eyed  chief,  called  Tarik,  commanded  an  army 
which  took  the  high  land  now  called  Gibraltar,  a  name  deriv- 
ed from  Gabel  el  Tarik,  the  mountain  of  Tarik.  This  Moor- 
ish army  was  met  in  711,  near  Cadiz,  by  a  Visigoth  army, 
led  by  king  Witiza,  amounting  to  one  hundred  thousand  men. 
The  Moors  had  twelve  thousand.  A  battle  of  seven  days' 
duration  ensued.  The  king  was  slain,  and  his  army  defeated. 
Within  a  few  months  the  whole  of  Spain  was  conquered, 
except  a  few  fortified  cities  and  a  territory  in  the  mountains,  in 
the  north,  next  the  sea,  to  which  the  surviving  warriors  of  the 
Goths  retired.  Here  the  spirit  of  patriotism,  liberty,  and  ven- 
geance was  nourished.  Hence  it  came  forth  to  engage  in  the 
warfare  which  continued  through  centuries. 

The  victorious  Tarik  was  called  to  severe  account  by  Musa, 
for  the  treasures  he  had  gathered,  and  was  reviled,  scourged, 
and  imprisoned.  While  Musa,  now  ruling  in  Spain,  was 
meditating  the  conquest  of  Europe,  he  was  suddenly  arrested, 
and  commanded  to  appear  before  the  caliph.  He  was  accused 
(as  Gibbon  relates)  of  vanity  and  falsehood,  fined  two  hundred 
thousand  pieces  of  gold,  publicly  whipped,  condemned  to  stand 
a  whole  day  before  the  palace  gate  unsheltered  from  the  sun, 
and  finally  dismissed  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca.  Meanwhile, 
Spain  was  suffering  all  the  miseries  which  the  merciless  Moors 
cotald  inflict.  Count  Julien  was  avenged,  if  the  degradation 
of  his  country  could  satisfy  him. 

If  the  Moors  would  not  have  invaded  Spain  unless  count 
Julien  had  invited  them  to  come,  (which  is  improbable,)  he 
made  the  first  move  in  a  long  train  of  events  important  to 
Spain  and  to  Europe.  The  conquest  and  tenure  of  so  large  a 
portion  of  the  west  of  Christian  Europe  by  infidels,  is  a  dis- 
astrous occurrence.  But  the  Moors  (or,  properly,  the  Ara- 
bians) will  be  found  to  have  aided,  essentially,  in  dissipating 
the  barbarism  in  which  Europe  was  involved. 

The  northern  part   of  Spain,  to  which  the  unconquered 
Goths  had  retired,  was  a  very  small  territory  next  to  the  sea  ; 
15* 


174  SPAIN. 

mountainous,  and  difficult  of  access.  The  first  of  this  people 
who  embodied  a  force  against  the  Moors,  was  a  chief  named 
Pelayo.  The  kingdom  of  Oviedo  arose  here,  and  was  known 
by  that  name  until  the  name  of  Leon  was  given  to  it.  Leon 
soon  comprised  about  one  quarter  part  of  the  peninsula,  and 
was  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Atlantic,  north  by  the  Bay  of 
Biscay,  eastwardly  by  the  Pyrenees,  and  southwardly  by  the 
territory  held  by  the  Moors.  In  the  ninth  century,  the  small 
kingdom  of  Navarre  arose,  eastwardly  of  Leon,  comprising  a 
territory  bounded  north-eastwardly  on  France,  and  extending 
half  the  distance  across  from  the  Bay  of  Biscay  to  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  consisting  of  the  mountains  and  vallies  in  the 
north-east  corner  of  Spain.  This  kingdom  gave,  for  centuries, 
part  of  the  title  of  kings  of  France,  long  after  it  ceased  to  be 
subject  to  these  kings.  South-eastwardly  of  Navarre,  the  king- 
dom of  Arragon  arose  before  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century, 
and  extended  from  Navarre  to  the  Mediterranean.  About  the 
same  time,  the  former  kingdom  of  Oviedo  had  taken  the  name 
of  Leon  and  Castile.  In  the  thirteenth  century,  Leon  and 
Castile  extended  over  a  larger  portion  of  the  peninsula.  In 
1074,  the  kingdoms  of  Leon,  Castile,  Navarre,  and  Arragon, 
covered  about  one  third  of  the  northern  part  of  Spain.  The 
Moors  held  the  residue. 

These  several  kingdoms  arose,  as  other  kingdoms  have 
been  seen  to  arise  elsewhere  in  Europe,  by  the  necessity  of 
having  military  chiefs,  who  became  kings  by  choice,  or  usurp- 
ation. Being  such,  they  must  have  nobles  and  chiefs.  The 
desire  of  dominion  introduced  civil  contentions,  violence, 
cruelties,  and  crimes.  It  is  only  necessary  to  substitute  Span- 
ish names  of  places  and  persons,  and  the  same  course  of  action 
and  suffering  would  be  found  here,  which  occurred,  from  like 
causes,  in  France,  Italy,  and  throughout  Europe.  Sometimes 
a  marriage  would  unite  two  of  these  kingdoms  in  the  same 
king  and  queen.  Sometimes  the  death  of  a  king  would  occa- 
sion a  partition  of  his  dominions  among  his  sons,  and  then 
would  follow  the  usual  course  of  warfare,  until  some  one,  by 
fraud,  perfidy,  or  violence,  became  sole  monarch.  Such  were 
the  contentions  which  history  exhibits  in  the  north  of  Spain, 
among  the  descendants  of  the  Visigoths,  for  centuries.  Some- 
times one  kingdom,  and  sometimes  another,  would  contend 
against  the  Moors ;  and,  when  their  own  feuds  and  warfare 
would  permit,  they  united  successfully  against  the  common 
enemy,  and  pushed  their  conquests  to  the  south. 

There  was  one  circumstance  among  these  Gothic  Spaniards, 


SPANISH    ARABS.  175 

which  distinguished  them  from  the  French  and  the  Germans. 
The  vassalage,  or  slavery,  common  in  France  and  Germany, 
arising  out  of  the  order  of  society,  which  finally  rivetted  the 
feudal  system,  does  not  appear  to  have  existed  in  Spain.  This 
may  have  been  so,  for  the  reason,  that  the  Spaniards  had  a 
common  interest  in  their  unceasing  warfare  with  the  Moors, 
and  a  high  sense  of  patriotism  in  carrying  it  on.  The  peo- 
ple of  Spain  and  of  France  were  both  of  Celtic  origin,  inter- 
mingled with  Romans,  at  the  time  of  the  barbarian  conquests  ; 
and  a  similar  state  of  society  might  have  been  expected  in  both 
countries.  The  Spaniards  were  greatly  the  superiors  of  the 
Franks. 

The  Moors,  as  they  are  usually  called,  though  first  called 
Arabians,  and  then  Saracens,  had  occupied  the  south  and 
middle  of  Spain  for  three  centuries,  in  the  year  1000.  Their 
progress  and  their  interior  government,  require  a  brief  notice, 
because  this  people  have  impressed  themselves  so  deeply  on 
the  affairs  of  Europe,  that  the  impression  still  remains.  Their 
settlement  in  Spain  was  at  first  only  a  colonial  relation  to  the 
eastern  caliphate  established  in  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates 
and  Tigris. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  Moors  in  Spain —  Their  Riches  and  Magnificence —  TJteir  Learning — 
Their  Decline. 

When  we  come  to  that  part  of  the  globe  in  which  Moham- 
med, or  Mahomet  appeared,  there  will  be  found  the  proper 
notice  of  this  remarkable  person,  of  the  religion  which  he 
established,  and  of  his  followers.  At  present,  they  are  only  to 
be  noticed  as  they  appeared  in  Spain.  At  the  time  of  their 
conquest  of  this  country,  the  throne  of  the  caliphs  was  at 
Damascus,  which  is  sixty  miles  east  from  the  east  shore  of  the 
Mediterranean,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty  north  by  east  from 
Jerusalem.  In  the  eighth  century,  the  reigning  family  were 
the  Abassides,  who  had  supplanted  the  Ommaiades.  Haroun 
Al  Raschid  was  caliph  for  some  years  before  his  death,  in  800. 
He  devoted  himself  to  the  cultivation  of  science  in  his  domin* 
ions,  by  inviting  learned  men  to  his  court,  and  by  causing  the 
philosophical  and  literary  works  of  the  Greeks  to  be  translat- 
ed into  Arabic,  and  copies  of  them  to  be  greatly  multiplied. 


176  SPANISH    ARABS. 

The  same  course  was  followed  by  his  successors,  and  Bagdad 
(which  had  become  the  seat  of  empire)  was  renowned  for  its 
science  and  learning,  while  Europe,  with  the  exception  of 
Spain,  (from  the  like  course  of  the  Arabians  there,)  was  sunk 
in  the  grossest  ignorance  and  barbarism. 

When  Abul  Abbas  (from  whom  the  name  of  the  Abbassides 
is  derived,)  overthrew  the  dynasty  of  the  Ommaiades,  (so  call- 
ed from  Omwiyah)  he  attempted  to  destroy  all  of  the  latter 
race.  A  young  prince,  of  the  name  of  Abdalrahman,  was  the 
only  one  who  escaped.  He  fled  through  Egypt,  and  along 
the  northern  coast  of  Africa,  and  was  joyfully  received  in 
Spain,  where  he  founded  the  caliphate  of  that  country,  which 
continued  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  years.  His  seat 
of  empire  was  at  Cordova,  on  the  Guadalquiver,  in  lower 
Andalusia.  This  was  an  ancient  town  of  the  Romans,  and  is 
said  to  exhibit,  to  the  present  day,  that  it  was  so;  and  also  that 
it  was  afterwards  Arabian,  or  Moorish.  In  splendid  Cordova, 
the  commerce,  luxury,  and  learning  of  the  East,  were  rivalled, 
if  not  surpassed.  It  is  credited  by  respectable  historians,  (see 
Hallam's  Mid.  Ages,  vol.  i.  p.  306,)  that  Cordova  contained,  at 
one  period,  two  hundred  thousand  houses,  six  hundred  mosques, 
and  nine  hundred  public  baths;  that  there  were  twelve  thou- 
sand towns  and  villages  on  the  banks  of  the  river.  The  reve- 
nues of  the  caliphs  were  annually  equal  to  twenty-five  millions 
of  dollars.  There  are  still  relics  of  the  splendid  edifices  of  the 
Moors,  but  their  mosques  have  been  transformed  into  churches. 
Magnificent  Cordova  has  become  comparatively  an  insignifi- 
cant city,  and  its  population  is  now  computed  at  about  thirty- 
five  thousand  only.  Gibbon  relates,  that  the  third,  and  the 
greatest  of  the  Abdalrahman  race,  constructed,  three  miles 
from  Cordova,  the  city,  palace,  and  gardens  of  Zehra,  in  honor 
of  his  favorite  sultana.  Twenty-five  years,  and  three  millions 
sterling,  were  required  in  this  work.  Here  were  seen  one 
thousand  and  two  hundred  pillars  of  Spanish,  African,  Greek, 
and  Italian  marble,  erected  by  artists  brought  from  Constan- 
tinople. One  of  the  fountains  in  the  garden  was  replenished, 
not  with  water,  but  with  purest  quicksilver.  The  prince's 
household  comprised  six  thousand  and  three  hundred  persons, 
and  his  guard  twelve  thousand,  whose  belts  and  cimeters  were 
studded  with  gold.  But  there  was  found,  in  the  closet  of  the 
deceased  caliph,  this  memorial  of  his  life :  "  I  have  now  reigned 
above  fifty  years  in  victory,  or  peace;  beloved  by  my  subjects, 
dreaded  by  my  enemies,  respected  by  my  allies.  Riches  and 
honor,  power  and  pleasure,  have  waited  on  my  call;  nor  does 


SPANISH    ARABS.  177 

any  earthly  blessing  appear  to  have  been  wanting  to  my 
felicity.  In  this  situation,  I  have  diligently  numbered  the 
days  of  pure  and  genuine  happiness  which  have  fallen  to  my 
lot;  they  amount  to  fourteen.  O  man!  place  not  thy  confi- 
dence in  this  present  world  !  " 

Compared  with  other  nations  of  that  time,  the  Arabians 
were  very  superior  in  intellectual  attainments.  They  had 
translations  from  the  Greek,  especially  the  works  of  Aristotle. 
They  plunged  into  metaphysical  philosophy,  and  the  scholas- 
tic learning,  which  afterwards  flourished  in  Europe,  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  derived  from  Aristotle,  through  them. 
The  Arabian  learning  was  cultivated  in  Spain.  The  academy 
at  Cordova  was  attended,  in  the  eleventh  century,  by  young 
German,  French,  and  English  pupils.  There  were  many 
other  academies  and  elementary  schools.  In  the  science  of 
quantity  and  numbers,  they  had  sure  guides  in  the  Greek 
translations.  In  astronomy,  they  had  gone  as  far  as  any  of 
their  predecessors.  The  common  arithmetical  figures  are 
attributed  to  them ;  but  these,  probably,  came  from  Egyptians. 
Gibbon  says  that  Arabians  admit  Algebra  to  have  been  de- 
rived to  them  from  the  Grecian  Diophantus.  In  medicine, 
they  knew  far  more  than  any  of  their  contemporaries.  They 
invented  distillation.  But  they  absurdly  misapplied  their 
knowledge  in  attempting  to  find  the  philosopher1  s  stone,  by 
which  base  metals  might  be  converted  into  gold ;  and  in  find- 
ing the  elixir  of  life,  by  which  to  secure  immortality  on  earth. 
In  works  of  imagination,  they  had  oriental  luxuriance.  Ro- 
mance and  poetical  composition  were  familiar  to  them.  They 
did  not  attempt  dramatic  writing.  Almanac,  algebra,  alcohol, 
azimuth,  zenith,  nadir,  alembic,  and  many  other  familiar  words, 
are  of  Arabian  origin. 

The  refinements  of  the  Arabians,  and  their  luxurious  enjoy- 
ments, were  either  those  of  sensuality,  or  of  fervent  fancy. 
Their  magnificence  was  that  of  a  people  who  fell  far  short  of 
civilization.  Wise  sayings,  and  moral  precepts  were  abun- 
dant among  them ;  but  th«y  had  not  the  only  substantial 
ground-work  of  real  refinement,  the  spirit  of  Christianity. 
Nor  had  they  its  necessary  consequence,  the  elevation  of  woman 
to  the  proper  rank  of  equal,  companion,  and  friend  of  the  other 
sex.  But  it  will  appear,  in  the  history  of  the  Arabians,  that 
woman  was  not,  among  them,  the  degraded  being  which  she 
has  ever  been  among  the  Turks,  who  are  the  ruling  Mahome- 
tans of  the  present  day.  Though  secluded  from  the  public 
gaze,  there  was  a  spirit  of  respectful  deference  towards  women. 


178 


SPAIN. 


The  same  fact  is  found  in  India,  in  all  ages,  where  a  truly 
chivalrous  spirit  exists  in  regard  to  the  other  sex.  That 
degradation  of  woman  in  the  East,  which  makes  her  a  miser- 
able slave,  or  a  gilded  toy,  is,  probably,  of  Turkish  or  Tartar 
origin.  It  is  found  wherever  Turks  or  Tartars  have  acquired 
dominion.  The  Arabians  of  Spain,  however,  knew  nothing 
of  the  happiness  which  is  expressed  by  the  comprehensive 
word  home;  nothing  of  that  exaltation  of  the  mind  and  heart, 
which  belongs  to  the  domestic  relations  of  the  Christian.  Yet 
it  is  seen  that  in  the  long  course  of  ages,  the  invasion  of  Spain 
by  the  Moors,  was  destined  to  kindle  anew  the  light  of  learn- 
ing in  Western  Europe;  and,  in  another  long  space  of  time,  to 
bring  forth  that  refinement  to  which  the  Arabians  were  stran- 
gers. Thus  it  may  be  found,  that  the  invasion  of  Spain  by  the 
Moors,  though  at  first,  the  mere  violence  of  the  strongest,  and 
prompted  by  the  love  of  power  and  of  conquest,  may  have 
been  intended  to  aid  in  recovering  Europe  from  its  deplorable 
barbarism. 

The  Spanish  caliphate  continued  in  splendor  until  about 
the  year  1030.  Then  the  natural  causes  of  change,  which  are 
seen  in  all  earthly  things,  were  operative,  and  the  unity  of 
power  gave  way.  The  territories  of  the  Moors  were  broken 
into  many  petty  kingdoms.  Insurrections,  tumults,  violence, 
and  crimes,  followed,  as  elsewhere  in  the  world,  and  from 
these  causes,  the  strength  which  the  Moors  had  maintained 
when  united,  gradually  declined.  Meanwhile  the  descendants 
of  the  Visigoths  in  the  north,  were  growing  stronger  and 
stronger  from  the  union  of  numbers,  and  the  direction  of  their 
force  by  skilful  minds;  and  were  thus  enabled  successfully  to 
assail  their  invaders,  and  to  force  them  further  and  further 
towards  the  south. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Gothic  Kingdoms — Wars  with  the  Moors — Spirit  of  Freedom — Cortes — 
Justiza — The  Cid — Peter  the  Criiel — Ferdinand  and  Isabella — Conquest 
of  Granada. 

Within  the  Gothic  kingdoms  of  the  north  of  Spain,  the 
elements  of  history,  from  the  year  1000  to  1450,  are  the  con- 
tests for  the  crown  ;  the  attempts  of  the  nobles  to  control  the 
crown;  and  the  efforts  of  the  crown  to   subdue  the  nobles, 


SPAIN.  179 

Sudden  revolutions,  extraordinary  reverses,  bloody  battles,  ev- 
ery form  of  cruelty  and  crime,  may  be  found  in  the  course  of 
these  years.  The  most  prolific  and  recurring  cause  of  calam- 
ity, was  the  custom  of  making  partition  of  a  kingdom  among  the 
sons  of  a  dying  monarch.  It  always  happened  that  wars  arose 
and  continued,  until  one  of  the  number  had  subdued  the  others, 
and  prepared  the  way  to  reproduce  the  like  calamities,  in  a  suc- 
ceeding generation.  To  give  these  details  would  be  useless. 
On  the  frontiers  of  these  kingdoms,  there  was  the  ever-enduring 
contest  with  the  Moors.  The  battles  between  these  enemies 
were  numerous  and  well  fought;  but  the  mode  of  conducting 
them,  and  the  immediate  agents  in  each,  are  not  now  objects  of 
instruction  or  interest. 

The  result  of  these  450  years,  (from  1000  to  1450,)  was  the 
gradual  enlargement  of  the  two  kingdoms  of  Castile  and  Arra- 
gon,  which  embraced  all  others,  and  opened  the  way  for  the 
union  of  these  two,  and  thus  finally  established  one  monarchy 
throughout  the  peninsula. 

Without  intending  to  enter  into  the  details  of  civil  wars,  bat- 
tles, insurrections,  rebellions,  and  crimes,  there  are  some  facts 
in  Spanish  history,  in  those  450  years,  which  are  well  worthy 
of  notice.  They  show  a  state  of  society  unlike  any  other  at 
that  time  existing  in  Europe.  This  was  founded  in  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  principles  of  civil  freedom,  in  a  firm  resolution  to 
preserve  them.  Certainly,  the  Spaniards  had  a  surprising  in- 
telligence (for  that  age)  in  the  means  of  effecting  their  object. 
How  these  facts,  so  unlike  any  elsewhere  in  Europe,  at  the 
same  time,  can  be  accounted  for,  is  now  only  to  be  conjectured. 
There  are  no  means  of  knowing  what  the  real  state  of  the 
Gothic  Spaniards  was,  before  the  Moors  overwhelmed  them,  in 
711.  Whether  those  who  fled  to  the  mountains  carried  with 
them  principles  of  civil  liberty,  and  cultivated  them  there; — or 
whether  these  principles  were  called  forth  by  their  struggles 
with  the  Moors,  and  the  equality  of  those  who  were  engaged 
in  these  struggles,  each  one  contending  for  himself,  and  neces- 
sarily each  one  for  the  whole, — is  not  to  be  known.  Several 
writers  intimate,  that  the  proud  Castilian  spirit  and  honor, 
(which  are  still  spoken  of  as  existing,)  arose  from  the  self-de- 
pendence of  each  man,  in  doing  his  own  part  to  resist  the 
Moors,  and  to  drive  them  back.  By  this  is  meant,  that  the 
Gothic  Spaniards,  wTho  were,  by  inheritance  and  necessity, 
the  irreconcilable  foes  of  the  Moors,  fought  for  themselves,  and 
not  as  the  vassals  of  some  lord,  in  whose  quarrel  they  had  en- 
gaged, from  obligation,  reluctantly  performed. 


180 


SPAIN. 


The  liability  to  Moorish  invasion  required  the  defence  of 
castles,  and  the  protection  of  fortified  cities.  The  intercourse 
of  men  in  cities,  during  the  middle  ages,  promoted  sentiments 
of  liberty,  and  these  were  strengthened  by  the  facility  of  unit- 
ing to  protect  and  enforce  them.  As  such  population  increas- 
ed in  number  and  wealth,  they  were  serviceable  to  kings  in 
humbling  the  nobility,  and  were  capable  of  resisting  the  tyranny 
of  nobles,  when  exerted  against  themselves.  From  such  causes 
it  arose,  that  there  was  a  firmer  and  more  rational  spirit  of  lib- 
erty, in  the  north  of  Spain,  than  any  where  else  in  Europe.  It 
was  especially  so  in  the  cities,  because  they  were  erected  on  ter- 
ritories wrested  from  the  Moors,  and  had,  originally,  grants  of 
privileges  connected  with  the  duty  of  maintaining  these  cities 
against  the  Moors. 

As  a  further  aid  in  resisting  the  Moors,  and  in  support  of 
the  ever-cherished  hope  of  expelling  them,  military  orders  of 
knighthood  were  established  in  Spain.  Those  of  Caletrava,  St. 
Jago,  and  Alcantara,  were  the  most  distinguished.  The  mem- 
bers of  these  institutions  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  wars 
of  the  Peninsula.  They  were  established  between  the  years 
1150  and  1200;  probably  imitations  of  the  military  orders 
established  about  the  same  time,  in  Palestine,  by  the  Crusaders. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  (1210,)  the  king,  Al- 
fonso IX.,  defeated  the  Moors- in  a  battle  at  Banos  di  Tolosa, 
and  slew  180,000.  This  is  so  extraordinary  an  event,  before 
the  use  of  gunpowder,  it  is  proper  to  remark,  that  it  is  credited 
by  Hallam.  (Middle  Ages,  vol.  1.  p.  305.)  In  1236,  the  splen- 
did city  of  Cordova  was  wrested  by  Ferdinand  from  the  Moors, 
and  soon  after,  Seville. 

Peculiar  institutions  to  preserve  liberty.  There  were  great 
national  councils  in  these  Spanish  kingdoms.  They  consisted 
of  the  nobles,  spiritual  persons,  and  the  deputies  from  the  cities. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  these  great  councils,  including  the  third 
estate,  are  not  of  earlier  date  by  150  years,  than  similar  coun- 
cils in  England.  These  assemblies  were  called  Cortes,  and 
the  third  estate  (or  commons)  were  a  constituent  part,  as 
early  as  1169.  They  exercised  an  important  power.  Their 
assent  was  indispensable  to  taxation ;  and  they  had  a  controll- 
ing power  over  expenditure.  In  1258,  the  cortes  informed 
their  Monarch  that  his  daily  expenditure,  for  his  table,  ought 
not  to  exceed  a  certain  sum. 

In  the  time  of  Alfonso  X.,  king  of  Castille  and  Leon,  (about 
the  year  1250,)  a  law  existed  to  this  effect: — "The  duty  of 
subjects  towards  their  king,  enjoins   them  not  to  permit  him, 


SPAIN. 


181 


knowingly,  to  endanger  his  salvation,  nor  to  incur  dishonor, 
or  inconvenience,  in  his  person  or  family,  nor  to  produce  mis- 
chief to  his  kingdom.  And  this  may  be  fulfilled  two  ways — 
one  by  good  advice,  showing  him  the  reason  wherefore  he 
ought  not  to  act  thus;  the  other  by  deeds,  seeking  means  to 
prevent  his  going,  on  to  his  own  ruin,  and  putting  a  stop  to 
those  who  give  him  ill  counsel ;  for,  inasmuch  as  his  errors 
are  of  worse  consequence  than  those  of  other  men,  it  is  the 
bounden  duty  of  subjects  to  prevent  his  committing  them." 

This  law  was  in  force  soon  after  the  time  that  magna  charta 
was  wrested  from  king  John.  It  asserts  as  decided  a  power 
over  the  royal  will  as  that  eminent  recognition  of  liberty 
does. 

In  the  kingdom  of  Arragon,  the  spirit  of  liberty  was  still 
more  emphatic  in  the  13th  century.  In  1283,  Peter  the  third, 
was  compelled  to  grant  the  law  of  "  general  privilege,"  which 
goes  further  than  magna  charta.  It  also  recites,  that  the  priv- 
ileges therein  spoken  of,  are, — "  The  ancient  liberties  of  their 
country."  The  people  of  this  kingdom  established  the  right 
of  maintaining  their  privileges  by  force  of  arms ;  the  recog- 
nition of  this  right  was  called  "  The  privilege  of  union." 
This  privilege  was  lost  at  the  battle  of  Epila,  in  1348,  between 
the  king  and  his  nobles,  in  which  the  former  triumphed. 

A  more  remarkable  fact  in  the  government  of  Arragon,  was 
the  existence  of  an  officer  called  the  justiza.  How  ancient 
this  officer  was,  is  unknown.  Hallam  says,  he  cannot  be  traced 
further  back  than  1118.  After  the  privilege  of  union  was 
abolished,  this  officer  appears  to  have  had  an  increased  power. 
We  have  not  room  to  mention  all  the  powers  of  this  officer.  It 
is  a  most  extraordinary  and  unaccountable  fact,  that  in  this 
benighted  period  of  the  world,  a  power  should  have  been  estab- 
lished which  has  been  the  boast  of  free  governments  in  the 
most  enlightened  of  modern  times.  The  justiza  had  power, 
not  only  over  persons,  but  over  tribunals,  and  even  over  the. 
monarch  himself.  Peter  IV.  removed  his  son  John  from  the 
regency  of  Arragon,  while  Peter  was  absent.  John  asserted 
the  ancient  right  of  the  heir  apparent  to  that  regency,  in  case  of 
the  king's  absence.  The  justiza  confirmed  the  right,  replaced 
John,  and  the  king  submitted.  Afterwards,  the  same  John 
forbade  the  justiza  to  pronounce  sentence  in  a  certain  case,  but  to 
come  forthwith  before  the  king  in  council.  The  justiza  came, 
and  the  king's  chancellor  began  to  reason  with  him  on  the 
propriety  of  suspending  sentence.  The  justiza  answered,  that 
the  case  was  clear,  and  sentence  had  already  been  pronounced. 
16 


182  SPAIN. 

The  king  then  expressed  himself  most  angrily;  but  thejustiza 
calmly  replied,  that  he  was  responsible  to  the  cortes,  not  to  the 
king,  if  he  had  done  wrong.  (John  was  king  from  1387  to 
1395.) 

As  liberty,  in  social  life,  is  a  quality  which  belongs  either  to 
yery  rude  society,  or  is  the  acquisition  of  a  high  degree  of  civil 
refinement,  it  is  difficult  to  account  for  this  degree  of  liberty 
among  the  Gothic  Spaniards ;  much  more  so,  to  account  for  the 
modes,  which  they  had  invented,  of  preserving  it.  Sismondi, 
in  his  work  on  the  literature  of  the  south  of  Europe,  chap. 
XXIII.,  derives  this  spirit  of  liberty  from  the  original  Gothic 
character.  It  is  common  to  stigmatize  ignorance  and  barbarism 
as  Gothic ;  but  the  Goths  of  Spain  were  the  least  ignorant 
and  barbarous  of  all  who  invaded  the  west.  Sismondi  even 
goes  so  far  as  to  derive  from  them,  the  noble  self-respect,  and 
the  personal  dignity,  so  well  known  under  the  name  of  Cas- 
tilian. 

The  history  of  these  Gothic  kingdoms  present  remarkable 
characters,  some  of  whom  were  of  extraordinary  merit,  and 
some  not  excelled  by  the  vicious  and  the  criminal  of  any  age. 
First,  among  the  worthy  of  these  days,  should  be  placed  Don 
Rodrigo  Ruy  Diar,  count  of  Rivar,  -called  by  the  Moors  El 
mio  Cid,  (my  lord,)  and  by  his  king  and  countrymen,  Compea- 
dor,  (hero  without  an  equal.)  This  person  was  born  in  1026, 
and  died  in  1099.  He  was  called  "  The  model  of  the  heroic 
virtues ;"  "  The  flower  of  Spanish  chivalry."  He  served 
Francis  I.,  and  Alfonso  I.,  kings  of  Castile  and  Leon.  His 
victories  over  the  Moors — his  magnanimity  under  all  circum- 
stances— his  misfortunes,  no  less  than  his  grandeur,  gave  him 
an  extraordinary  celebrity.  The  history  of  the  Cid  is  the  sub- 
ject of  the  oldest  Castilian  poem,  composed  about  the  end  of 
the  12th  century,  (more  than  200  years  before  Chaucer  was 
born.)  There  are  said  to  be  more  than  an  hundred  ballads  ex- 
tant in  honor  of  the  Cid.  .  Corneille,  the  father  of  French 
tragedy,  wrote  a  play  about  the  year  1636,  of  which  the  Cid 
was  the  subject.  Southey  has  presented  the  full  history  of  this 
eminent  person  in  a  work  entitled  the  chronicle  of  the  Cid. 
Our  limits  do  not  permit  much  further  notice  of  this  hero,  nor 
does  his  life  specially  connect  itself  with  the  events  of  the  pres- 
ent day.  But  for  the  benefit  of  the  curious  in  the  history  of 
extraordinary  men,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  the  private  life  of 
the  Cid  was  as  interesting  as  his  public  life  was  illustrious. 
He  died  at  Valencia,  and  his  body  was  carried  to  Castile,  at- 
tended by  his  widow  Exemene.  He  was  buried  at  the  Con- 
vent of  St.  Peter,  of  Cardena;  and  there,  also,   reposes   his 


SPAIN. 


183 


widow.  History  condescends  to  record,  that  Babieca,  the  re- 
nowned horse  of  the  Cid,  was  buried  with  suitable  honors,  un- 
der the  trees  before  the  convent. 

The  person  to  be  most  contrasted  with  the  Cid,  in  those  500 
years,  was  Peter  the  Cruel,  king  of  Castile  and  Leon.  He 
was  killed  in  1368,  at  the  age  of  34.  Perhaps  this  man  may 
be  selected  as  the  most  cruel  and  odious  of  all  who  are  men- 
tioned in  history.  Yet,  it  so  happened  that  when  Edward  the 
Black  Prince,  son  of  Edward  III.,  of  England,  was  lord  of 
Guienne,  (south  of  France,)  he  was  induced  to  aid  Peter  to  re- 
cover the  throne  from  which  he  had  been  expelled ;  an  exploit 
which  Edward  was  sorry  afterwards  to  have  accomplished. 
John  of  Gaunt,  one  of  the  sons  of  Edward  the  third,  of  Eng- 
land, married  a  daughter  of  Peter  the  Cruel,  and  made  some 
pretensions  to  the  crown  of  Castile  in  her  right. 

The  kings  and  the  people,  in  the  North  of  Spain,  were  fully 
employed  in  the  period  now  under  review,  with  the  Moors  on 
the  one  hand,  and  their  interior  convulsions  on  the  other.  They 
exhibited,  in  their  Moorish  warfare,  great  courage  and  perse- 
verance, and  in  their  warfare  among  themselves,  the  revenge- 
ful cruelty  of  that  age.  But  the  names  of  agents,  the  achieve- 
ments and  the  sufferings  contain  no  instruction  for  the  present 
age.  About  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  we  approach 
persons  and  events  which  deserve  a  special  notice. 

John  II,  king  of  Castile,  died  in  1454.  He  had  two  daugh- 
ters, Joanna  and  Isabella,  and  a  son  Henry,  who  succeeded  him, 
by  the  name  of  Henry  IV.  While  Henry  was  alive,  Isabella 
had  married  (in  1469)  Ferdinand,  son  of  John  II.,  king  of 
Arragon.  When  Isabella's  brother  Henry  died,  leaving  an 
infant  daughter,  Isabella  was  raised  to  the  throne  in  preference 
to  her  niece,  and  became  queen  of  Castile  in  1474.  Isabella 
did  not  permit  her  husband  to  take  the  royal  authority  out  of 
her  hands.  In  1479,  John  of  Arragon,  Ferdinand's  father, 
died,  and  thereupon  Ferdinand  became  king  of  Arragon.  At 
this  time,  the  whole  of  Spain,  excepting  that  part  which  the 
Moors  still  retained,  and  this  was  only  Granada,  along  the 
Mediterranean,  had  been  united  with  Castile,  or  with  Arragon, 
so  that  the  union  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  their  succes- 
sion to  the  two  crowns  made  them  the  joint  sovereigns  of  Spain. 
But  the  Castilians  were  careful,  in  raising  Isabella  to  the 
throne,  in  the  place  of  her  niece,  to  guard  against  coming  un- 
der the  dominion  of  Arragon,  when  her  husband,  Ferdinand, 
should  have  succeeded  his  father. 

In  virtue  of  a  compromise,  the  names  of  Ferdinand  and  Is- 
abella were  to  appear  jointly,  in  all  cases  where  the  royal  au- 


184 


SPAIN. 


thority  was  to  be  expressed,  as  well  as  on  the  coin ;  Ferdinand 
being  first  named,  from  the  superior  dignity  of  the  sex;  but  the 
arms  of  Castile  were  placed  first,  in  acknowledgment  of  the 
superior  dignity  of  that  kingdom.  Isabella  retained  to  herself 
the  appointment  of  all  civil  officers  in  her  kingdom;  spiritual 
appointments  were  made  in  the  name  of  herself  and  husband. 
When  the  two  were  together,  government  was  conducted  by 
both,  jointly.  When  they  were  in  different  provinces,  either 
exercised  the  whole  authority  alone. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  facts  in  history,  that  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella  continued,  so  far  as  records  disclose,  a  per- 
fect unanimity  throughout  the  thirty-five  years  of  their  married 
life.  He  had  his  own  kingdom  of  Arragon  to  manage,  and  to 
act  with  her  in  the  management  of  Castile.  It  would  seem  to 
be  inevitable,  that  discord  would  arise  almost  daily.  The  case 
is  more  remarkable,  because  Ferdinand  is  represented  to  have 
been  ambitious,  and  quite  a  stranger  to  the  magnanimous  feel- 
ings and  principles,  which  constituted  the  glory  of  chivalry. 
That  this  royal  pair  moved  on  so  long  and  so  harmoniously 
is  attributed,  by  historians,  to  the  admirable  qualities  of  Isabella, 
who  had  the  rare  excellence  of  being  able  to  preserve  respect 
and  affection  as  a  wife,  while  she  never  sacrificed  her  rights  as 
a  queen.  Ferdinand  was  born  in  March,  1452,  and  was  mar- 
ried to  Isabella  when  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age.  Isabella 
was  two  years  older,  having  been  born  in  1450. 

Although  the  feudal  system  does  not  appear  to  have  been  es- 
tablished in  Spain,  yet  here,  as  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  the 
landed  estate  was  held  by  the  great  lords,  and  by  the  church ; 
and  here,  as  elsewhere,  the  great  lords  exercised  powers  within 
their  own  territories,  and  used  force,  as  to  each  other,  inconsis- 
tent with  the  public  peace.  There  was  another  cause  of  pub- 
lic disturbance,  in  the  robberies  which  occurred,  by  numerous 
bands,  in  various  parts  of  the  kingdoms.  Some  of  the  nobles 
were  either  concerned  in  these  robberies,  or  gave  protection  in 
their  castles  to  those  who  were.  The  preference  of  Isabella 
to  her  niece,  for  queen,  had  raised  some  malcontents.  When, 
in  1467,  Isabella  assumed  the  sovereignty,  her  first  object  was 
to  tranquillize  her  kingdom,  This  was  done  promptly,  and,  in 
some  cases,  with  exemplary  severity.  New  disturbances  hav- 
ing arisen  in  1486,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  revived  the  Her- 
maiidad.  This  was,  originally,  a  brotherhood,  formed  of  in- 
habitants of  cities  in  Castile  and  Leon,  about  200  years  before, 
for  the  purpose  of  controlling  the  insolence  and  rapacity  of  the 
nobles.  Very  severe  and  summary  justice  overtook  delinquents 


SPAIN.  185 

and  offenders  under  this  fraternal  association ;  and  it  seemed  to 
the  king  and  queen  a  suitable  instrument  for  their  present  pur- 
poses. A  mounted  military  force,  having  with  them  civil  judg- 
es, were  able  to  bring  the  nobles  to  submission,  to  prevent  the 
robbery  of  defenceless  villages,  and  make  the  highways  safe 
from  attack.  Internal  tranquillity  being  established,  these  able 
sovereigns  had  leisure  to  comtemplate  and  effect  great  purposes, 
and  to  connect  their  names  with  memorable  events. 

In  1 480,  the  whole  of  Spain,  excepting  the  kingdom  of  Por- 
tugal, in  the  southwest  corner  of  the  peninsula,  and  the  king- 
dom of  Granada,  along  the  south-east  shore,  on  the  Mediterra- 
nean, were  under  the  dominion  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  The 
Moors,  during  a  conflict  of  nearly  800  years,  (711 — 1480)  had 
been  driven  from  the  North  until  Granada  only  was  left  to 
them.  This  territory  may  have  been  about  200  miles  in  length, 
and  50  in  breadth. 

It  was  the  most  fertile  and  cultivated  part  of  the  whole  pe- 
ninsula.    The  city  of  Granada  is  supposed  to  have  had  a  pop- 
ulation of  200,000,  and  all  other  parts  were  very  populous,  from 
the  concentration  of  the  Moors.     Within  this  territory  were  no 
less  than  seventy  walled  towns.     A  free  communication  be- 
tween Granada  and  Africa  permitted  a  great  increase  of  strength, 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  prepared   themselves  to  make  a  final 
effort  for  the  recovery  of  Spain,  and  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors. 
A  war  of  ten  years'  duration  followed,  and,  probably,  the  most 
bravely  and  obstinately  contested  of  any  that  occurred  in  these 
eight  centuries.     The  last  blow  was   given  on  the   second  of 
January,  1492,  and  the  whole   of  Spain  had  submitted   to  the 
joint  sovereigns,  except  the  little  kingdom  of  Navarre,  in  the 
Pyrenees.     Many  of  the  Moors  were  permitted  to  remain  as 
subjects,  and  all  who  preferred  to  withdraw  into  Africa,  were 
aided  to  depart.     The  conquest  of  Granada  is  a  fine  subject 
for  the  historian  and  the  poet.     It  raised  Spain   to  be   one  of 
the  most  respected  powers  in  Europe.     During  the  joint  lives 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  its  grandeur  was  continually  in- 
creasing, partly  from  the  good  sense  and  harmony  of  these  two 
persons,  and  partly  from  fortunate  circumstances.     The  name 
of  Most  Catholic  was  conferred  on  Ferdinand,  on  his  triumph 
over  the  Moors,  by  pope  Innocent  VIII.  and  confirmed  by  Alex- 
ander VI.,  and  has  ever  since  been  borne  by  Spanish  monarchs. 
There  is   "  a  chronicle  of  the  conquest  of  Granada,  from  the 
manuscript  of  Fray  Antonio  Agapida ; "  for  which  the  public 
are  indebted  to  the  labors  of  Washington  Irving.     We  regret 

16* 


186 


SPAIN. 


that  our  limits  do  not  allow  extracts  from  this  interesting  com- 
pilation. 

While  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were  engaged  in  the  con- 
quest of  Granada,  Louis  XL  of  France  died,  (1484,)  having 
possession  of  Navarre,  which  Ferdinand  claimed.  On  the 
succession  of  Charles  VIIL,  this  was  surrendered  to  Ferdi- 
nand, that  Charles  might  not  leave  an  enemy  behind  him,  as 
he  was  about  to  engage  in  the  conquest  of  Naples.  A  treaty 
of  peace  was  made,  and  Charles  proceeded  to  Italy.  But  the 
crafty  Ferdinand  having  perceived  that  the  opportunity  had 
arisen  to  humble  Charles,  and  possess  himself  of  Naples,  sent 
into  Italy  an  army  under  the  command  of  Gonsalvez  of  Cor- 
dova, known  by  the  surname  of  the  Great  Captain.  Louis 
XII.  having  succeeded  Charles,  Ferdinand  made  a  secret  treaty 
with  the  new  French  king  to  divide  the  kingdom  of  Naples 
between  them.  But,  before  the  end  of  1505,  Ferdinand  had 
expelled  the  French  and  become  sole  possessor,  and  was  soon 
after  recognized  as  king  of  the  Two  Sicilies.  The  policy  of 
Ferdinand  was  one  of  the  causes  of  the  wars  which  agitated 
all  Europe  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  is  hereafter  to  be  con- 
sidered. 

Ferdinand  disinclined  to  aid  Columbus.  The  aid  given  by 
Isabella,  on  her  own  authority  and  power,  is  so  familiarly 
known  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  enter  into  details.  To  those 
who  have  yet  to  learn  them  it  is  unnecessary  to  do  more  than 
refer  to  the  fact,  and  to  the  admirable  history  of  Washington 
Irving.  Ferdinand  alone  would  not  have  sustained  Columbus. 
Isabella  is  that  one  of  the  two  on  whom  the  enterprise  depend- 
ed. Ambitious  and  able  as  she  may  have  been,  she  was  no 
less  bigoted  in  her  religion,  and  is  supposed  to  have  thought 
much  more  of  the  glory  of  making  Christians  in  the  new 
world,  than  of  extending  her  dominion  over  it.  The  sove- 
reigns of  Spain  embraced  in  their  views  few  of  the  great  con- 
sequences which  arose  out  of  the  departure  of  Columbus  from 
the  port  of  Palos,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Tinto,  and  sixty  miles 
north-west  of  Cadiz,  on  the  3d  of  August,  1492,  on  his  bold 
and  perilous  enterprise.  The  expulsion  of  the  Moors,  the 
success  of  Columbus,  the  prosperity  of  Spain,  and  the  consid- 
eration demanded,  and  accorded  by  other  nations,  placed  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella  in  the  most  fortunate  condition  of  royal 
life.  The  reformation  of  morals  and  the  enforcement  of  relig- 
ious duties,  deeply  engaged  Isabella's  attention.  She  was 
aided  by  Francisco  Ximenes,  (born  in  1437,  died  in  1517,)  one 
of  the  ablest  of  men  in  any  age.     He  was  archbishop  of  To- 


SPAIN.  187 

ledo  and  a  cardinal,  and  prime  minister  of  Spain  for  many 
years.  This  person  will  be  again  in  view  in  another  period 
of  Spanish  affairs,  and  is  mentioned  now  only  as  the  agent 
of  Isabella  in  establishing  a  severe  discipline  over  Jews, 
Moors,  and  heretics.  Ferdinand  was  equally  devoted  to  the 
same  pursuits.  In  1484  he  established  the  Inquisition  in 
his  kingdom  of  Arragon.  It  was  thence  extended  throughout 
Spain,  and  continued  in  force  more  than  three  centuries.  No 
country  in  Europe  has  been  under  an  ecclesiastical  tyranny 
more  odious  and  merciless,  or  more  disgraceful  to  human 
nature,  than  Spain.  The  opinions  and  feelings  of  Isabella  on 
the  subject  of  religion,  were  the  fault  of  the  age,  and  not  of 
herself.  ^AVith  Ferdinand,  religion  may  have  been  as  much  a 
matter  oi'policy  as  of  principle.  ^ 

With  all  that  great  talents,  good  intentions,  and  fortunate 
circumstances  could  bestow  on  a  sovereign  queen,  Isabella  was 
one  of  the  most  miserable  of  women.  Her  son,  Don  Juan, 
and  hCT^a'augnter^  died  in  her  life-time. 

Her  second  daughter,  Jeanne,  (or  Joan,)  married  Philip,  son 
of  Maximilian,  emperor  of  Germany.  Unfortunately,  Philip 
was  not  disposed  to  remain  at  the  Spanish  court,  nor  to  take 
away  with  him  his  doating  wife.  While  Isabella  was  mourn- 
ing the  loss  of  her  son  and  daughter,  the  wife  of  Philip,  from 
grief  of  her  husband's  absence,  became  insane.  These  afflic- 
tions, with  some  bodily  infirmities,  brought  Isabella  to  the 
tomb  on  the  26th  of  November,  1504,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four. 

If  a  reasonable  allowance  be  made  for  the  period  of  time 
when  Isabella  appeared,  she  would  be  considered  (if  of  the 
other  sex)  one  of  the  most  useful  kings  that  ever  wore  a 
crown.  As  to  her  personal  qualities,  she  is  represented  to 
have  been  well  instructed,  of  commanding  figure,  attractive 
countenance,  and  gracious  deportment.  As  to  her  talents, 
historical  facts  are  the  best  proofs.  Isabella  and  Ferdinand 
were  jointly  conquerors  of  Granada;  it  was  annexed  to  the 
kingdom  of  Castile.  In  the  Chronicle  of  Agapida,  the  pres- 
ence and  the  agency  of  Isabella  are  described.  She  controlled 
the  nobles  without  driving  them  to  rebellion.  She  made  it  the 
duty  and  the  interest  of  the  well-disposed  part  of  her  subjects  to 
suppress  and  extirpate  the  powerful  banditti  which  infested  her 
empire.  With  more  ability,  more  success,  and  less  commotion 
than  occurred  in  any  other  country,  she  established  a  regular 
royal  authority  on  the  overthrow  of  baronial  barbarism.  The 
unfortunate  Joan  was  made  the  heir  of  Isabella.  Ferdinand 
survived  his  wife  twelve  years.    It  is  apparent,  from  his  policy 


188  SPAIN. 

after  her  death,  that  the  magnanimity  of  the  joint  reign  flowed 
from  her,  and  that  she  often  controlled  the  cunning  and  deceit- 
ful purposes  of  her  husband. 

It  is  difficult  to  weigh  justly  the  good  and  evil  which  any 
powerful  monarch  may  have  done ;  more  difficult  to  decide  to 
what  degree  of  commendation  he  is  entitled,  and  to  what  de- 
gree of  reproach  to  be  subjected,  for  the  transactions  of  his 
reign.  The  English,  the  French,  and  the  Neapolitans  called 
Ferdinand  perfidious;  the  people  of  the  church  called  him 
pious ;  his  own  countrymen  called  him  prudent  and  wise.  It 
seems  to  those  who  judge  of  him  after  so  many  years,  that  he 
was  injudicious  and  cruel  in  expelling  the  Jews  and  Moors 
because  they  would  not  submit  to  baptism.  The  numbers 
expelled  amounted  to  many  thousands,  and  they  were  among 
the  richest,  most  intelligent,  and  useful  of  his  subjects.'  But, 
in  so  judging,  one  easily  overlooks  the  power  of  the  church  at 
that  time.  One. cannot  deny  to  him  praise  for  the  effect  of  his 
internal  government,  if  he  hesitates  to  praise  him  for  the 
means  which  he  used.  He  controlled  the  power  of  the  nobles 
— he  reformed  and  gave  force  to  the  laws — he  diminished  the 
burthens  to  which  his  subjects  were  liable — corrected  clerical 
abuses,  and  punished  unworthy  magistrates. 

In  his  exterior  relations,  Ferdinand  lived  at  a  time  when 
the  politics  of  Europe  were  governed  by  intrigues  and 
frauds  in  a  degree  never  surpassed.  But,  one  writer  gives 
him  the  eulogy  of  having  held  in  his  own  hand  the  thread 
of  all  the  intrigues  of  all  the  courts  of  Europe.  He  used 
his  intelligence  well ;  for,  with  a  force  much  inferior  to 
that  of  several  other  powers,  he  acquired  Sicily,  Naples, 
Oran,  and  some  other  places  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  he 
extended  the  Spanish  empire  over  a  new  world.  He  is 
charged,  however,  with  great  injustice  to  the  Great  Captain, 
(Gonsalvez,)  and  also  to  Columbus.  But  he  has  left  many 
examples  of  clemency  and  generosity.  While  Isabella  lived, 
they  two  together  constituted  the  ablest  and  the  worthiest  of 
all  the  monarchs  of  their  age;  and,  after  her  death,  Ferdinand 
had  no  equal  as  an  able  politician,  an  exact  minister  of  his 
own  affairs,  and  as  an  enlightened  reformer.  Whatever  the 
Spanish  monarchy  could  claim  to  be  among  the  powers  of  Eu- 
rope, after  Isabella's  death,  it  was  made  to  be  by  Ferdinand. 

Though  Isabella  extorted  a  promise  from  her  husband,  that 
he  would  not  marry  again,  he  did  marry,  from  policy  rather 
than  choice,  Germaine  de  Foix,  sister  of  Louis  XII.  of  France. 
From  causes,  stated  by  historians,  his  mind  and  body  fell  into 


SPANISH    LANGUAGE.  189 

decay,  and  his  close  of  life  was  sad  and  melancholy,  (25th  of 
January,  1516,  aged  sixty-four.) 

He  made  his  daughter  Jane,  or  Joan,  his  heiress,  and  after 
her,  Charles,  her  son,  afterwards  Charles  V.  Thus  Spain  fell 
under  the  dominion  of  the  house  of  Austria. 

The  Language  and  Literature  of  Spain. — This  language  is 
the  result  of  a  combination  of  German  and  Latin.  (Sismondi,  vol. 
ii.  p.  104,  chap,  xxiii.)  This  was  formed  during  the  three  cen- 
turies between  the  Gothic  conquest  of  the  Romans  in  Spain 
and  the  conquest  of  the  Moors  in  711.  The  Romans  remain- 
ed, and  gradually  intermingled  with  their  conquerors,  and  the 
two  were  blended  into  one  nation.  The  Spanish,  the  Italian, 
the  French,  and  the  Portuguese,  which  must  have  had  a  simi- 
lar origin,  (that  is,  the  combination  of  the  language  of  the 
barbarians  with  the  Latin,)  had  been  separated  from  each 
other  by  speaking,  a  long  time  before  they  became  written 
languages.  It  is  well  known  that  provinces,  and  counties,  and 
neighborhoods,  in  our  own  time,  have  dialects  of  their  own. 
Different  pronunciation,  changes  of  letters,  contractions,  great- 
er or  less  use  of  vowels,  are  natural  consequences.  When  the 
rules  of  grammar  come  to  be  applied,  the  languages,  though 
of  common  origin,  become  dissimilar  and  distinct.  There  is 
one  language  in  the  north-east  of  Spain,  the  Basque,  which 
has  no  affinity  to  any  northern  language,  nor  to  the  Latin. 
Sismondi  thinks  it  may  have  been  of  African  origin.  The 
Spanish  was  much  influenced  by  the  language  of  the  Moors. 
Notwithstanding  hostility  continued  through  centuries,  there 
was  great  intercourse  between  Goths  and  Moors. 

Though  Spain  abounded  in  poetical  works  in  the  twelfth 
century,  their  language  was  still  a  rude  one.  Even  the  great 
poem  of  the  Cid,  which  dates  from  1207,  is  said  by  Sismondi 
to  be  almost  absolutely  barbarous  in  its  versification  and  lan- 
guage. Yet,  it  is  a  lively  and  faithful  picture  of  the  manners 
of  the  age.  (Vol.  ii.  p.  115.)*  The  early  and  even  the 
modern  literature  of  Spain,  excepting  always  the  immortal 
work  of  Cervantes,  seems  to  be  very  little  known  beyond  the 
limits  in  which  they  were  produced,  although  the  dramatic 
pieces  of  Spain  outnumber  those  of  all  other  nations.  Wheth- 
er national  character  is  in  any,  and  in  what  degree,  a  conse- 
quence of  language,  or  language  a  consequence  of  national 

*  In  the  pages  next  following,  Sismondi  has  made  an  analysis  of 
this  poem. 


190  PORTUGAL. 

qualities,  is  a  question  which  we  do  not  remember  to  have  seen 
discussed.* 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

PORTUGAL. 

Portugal  lies  along  the  western  coast  of  the  peninsula, 
the  whole  extent,  (excepting  Gallicia  in  the  north-west  corner,) 
and  is  about  four  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  of  breadth 
between  one  hundred  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  Its 
southern  end  bounds  on  the  Atlantic.  The  whole  of  this  ter- 
ritory was  under  the  dominion  of  the  Moors. 

Alfonso  VI.  of  Leon,  and  the  first  of  that  name  in  Castile, 
the  two  kingdoms  being  under  his  dominion,  reigned  from 
1067  to  1 109. 

Henry  of  Besancon,  who  was  of  the  royal  blood  of  France, 
(son  of  Robert  I.,)  married  a  natural  daughter  of  Alfonso, 
and,  in  1095,  he  received  from  his  father-in-law  the  govern- 
ment of  Portugal  from  the  Minho  to  the  Tagus.  Within  this 
territory  is  Porto,  or  Oporto,  from  which  the  name  of  the 
country  is  derived.  It  is  unsettled,  whether  Alfonso  intended 
to  confer  a  representative  or  an  absolute  power  on  Henry.  It 
was,  or  was  assumed  to  be,  the  latter ;  and  Henry  laid  the 
foundation  of  a  separate  kingdom.  The  history  of  Portugal, 
from  this  time  till  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  con- 
tains the  usual  succession  of  monarchs,  a  greater  proportion  of 
whom  were  military  chiefs,  and  successful  in  their  wars. 
These  wars  were  waged  either  with  the  Moors  or  the  Castil- 
ians.  In  the  former,  the  territory  of  Portugal  was  gradually 
extended  to  the  south,  as  the  fruit  of  many  severe  conflicts. 

About  the  year  1400,  John  of  Gaunt,  whose  name  so  often 
occurs  in  English  history,  came  to  Portugal,  in  his  way  to 
Castile,  to  assert  his  claim  to  the  crown  of  that  kingdom,  in 
right  of  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  Peter  the  Cruel.  At  this 
time,  Joam  I.  was  king  of  Portugal,  and  was  then  at  variance 
with  the  tenant  of  the  Castilian  throne,  who  was  Henry  III. 

In  1403,  Joam  married  Philippa,  the  daughter  of  John  of 

*  It  is  regretted  that  a  work  now  in  the  press,  the  "  History  of  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella,"  by  William  H.  Prescott,  could  not  have  been  read 
before  these  pages  were  put  to  press. 


PORTUGAL.  191 

Gaunt,  and  had  five  sons  by  this  marriage,  all  of  whom  proved 
to  be  persons  of  eminent  worth  and  high  military  renown. 
In  1415,  the  king  and  his  five  sons  engaged  in  an  expedition 
against  the  Moors  in  Africa,  and  possessed  himself  of  Ceuta, 
the  strong  fortress  and  city  which  is  opposite  to  Gibraltar. 
This  exploit  excited  the  admiration  of  Europe.  This  king 
and  his  sons  are  the  authors  of  that  spirit  of  adventure  and 
enterprise,  which,  in  the  course  of  the  next  hundred  years, 
changed  the  commercial  relations  of  the  whole  world,  and 
raised  Portugal  to  be  the  first  of  maritime  nations. 

Meanwhile,  the  internal  history  of  Portugal  is  the  usual 
exhibition  of  human  nature,  in  that  age.  It  discloses  a  series 
of  odious  crimes,  and  instances  of  wanton,  capricious,  cruel 
exercise  of  power ;  but  instances,  also,  in  greater  number 
than  in  any  other  nation  of  this  time,  of  magnanimity  and 
virtue.  It  is  foreign  to  our  purpose  to  enter  into  any  details 
which  have  no  relation  to  the  present  state  of  the  world. 

In  the  reign  of  Joam  II.  the  Portuguese  continued  their 
adventures  to  the  coast  of  Africa  ;  and  between  1482  and  1486, 
had  established  a  fort  at  Guinea.  These  enterprises  were 
carried  on  under  the  immediate  orders  of  the  king,  and  not  as 
private  adventures.  In  1487,  Bartholomeo  Diaz  discovered 
the  southern  point  of  Africa,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  the 
Cape  of  Storms ;  but  when  king  Joam  heard  that  it  was  a 
promontory,  and  might  be  passed  into  an  eastern  ocean,  he 
changed  the  name,  doubtless  in  contemplation  of  future  dis- 
coveries, and  gave  it  the  present  name,  O  Cabo  de  boa  Espe- 
ranca,  or,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  But  this  enterprising 
monarch  did  not  live  to  see  his  hopes  realized.  He  died  in 
1495.  He  left  a  very  respectable  reputation  as  a  man  and  as 
a  sovereign.  His  vices  and  follies  were  much  fewer,  and  less 
strongly  marked,  than  was  usual  among  the  crowned  heads 
of  this  age. 

The  commercial  grandeur  of  Portugal  was  thus  begun,  and 
was  followed  out  by  Manuel,  successor  of  Joam.  Five  vessels 
were  entrusted  to  the  command  of  Vasco  de  Gama,  who 
doubled  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  on  the  20th  day  of  November, 
1497.  Having  passed  as  far  eastwardly  as  the  hither  penin- 
sula of  India,  he  returned  to  Lisbon  in  September,  1499.  The 
commercial,  political,  and  religious  measures  of  the  Portu- 
guese in  the  East,  are  to  be  noticed  in  sketches  of  the  countries 
in  which  they  occurred.  They  would  properly  belong  to 
Portuguese  history,  if  that  were  the  only  one  to  be  considered. 
In  these  general  views,  it  is  most  convenient  to  notice  events 
in  the  respective  territories  in  which  they  took  place . 


192  NETHERLANDS. 

The  language  of  Portugal  is  of  the  like  origin  with  that  of 
Spain  ;  but,  from  causes  referred  to  in  noticing  the  latter,  it  has 
become  a  distinct  one,  no  less  than  that  of  Italy.  It  was  not 
until  the  sixteenth  century,  that  any  work  in  the  Portuguese 
attracted  general  notice.  The  Lusiad,  by  Louis  Camoens, 
first  appeared  in  1572,  and  is  a  work  of  genius,  honored  and 
admired  by  his  countrymen.  But  its  erratic  and  unfortunate 
author  begged  his  bread,  at  the  close  of  his  life,  and  died  in  an 
alms-house.  The  literature  of  Portugal  is  examined  by  Ses- 
mondi  in  his  Literature  of  the  South,  from  page  260,  to  the 
end,  of  vol.  iv. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Holland — Belgium — Netherlands. 

The  modern  kingdom  of  Holland  is  bounded  on  the  north 
and  west  by  the  Northern  ocean,  which  separates  it  from 
Great  Britain;  eastwardly  by  Germany,  southwardly  by  a  line 
which  is  not  marked  by  any  geographical  monuments,  but 
settled  by  agreement,  as  the  boundary  between  Holland  and 
Belgium.  The  whole  country  is  lower  than  the  surface  of 
the  sea,  and  is  defended  from  inundation  by  dikes,  kept  up  at 
great  expense.  It  was  said  by  Butler,  (the  author  of  Hudi- 
bras,)  in  allusion  to  the  depth  of  water  required  to  float  ships, — 
"  Holland  is  a  country  which  draws  fifty  feet  of  water."  The 
name  of  Holland,  according  to  the  historian  Anquetil,  is  from 
the  hollowness  of  the  land,  (Hollow  Land.)  In  the  history  of 
the  Netherlands  by  Grattan,  (chap,  iv.)  it  is  said,  "The  dis- 
trict in  which  Dordretcht  is  situated  formed  an  island  just 
raised  above  the  waters,  and  which  was  called  Holland,  or 
Holtland,  which  means  wooded  land,  or,  according  to  some, 
hollow  land."  It  is  probable  that  the  name  of  a  particular 
place  was  extended  to  the  country,  as  was  the  fact  with  Ger- 
many, Italy,  and  Asia. 

The  name  of  Belgium  was  probably  that  of  a  particular 
part,  with  the  people  of  which  the  Romans  first  came  in  con- 
tact under  Julius  Csesar,  near  the  middle  of  the  century  before 
the  Christian  era.  This  kingdom  is  bounded  northwardly  on 
Holland,  northwestwardly  in  the  Northern  ocean,  eastwardly 
by  Germany,  southwardly  by  a  conventional  line,  which  is 
the  boundary  between  this  kingdom  and  France.     This  line 


NETHERLANDS.  193 

begins  on  the  ocean,  a  little  east  of  Dunkirk,  and  runs  south- 
eastwardly  to  the  river  Moselle,  and  stops  there,  at  a  point  in 
north  latitude,  49°  5Cr\  Holland  and  Belgium,  and  the  country 
between  the  Moselle  and  the  Rhine,  have  been  usually  treated 
of,  politically  and  geographically,  as  one  country,  under  the 
name  of  the  Netherlands,  or  low  lands. 

The  sources  of  the  earliest  history  of  the  Netherlands  are 
Caesar's  Commentaries ;  the  elder  Pliny's  Remarks,  who  made 
a  campaign  in  Germany  about  one  hundred  years  after  Caesar ; 
(Pliny  was  born  in  23,  and  died  in  79.)  The  works  of  Taci- 
tus, who  wrote  about  the  end  of  the  first  century.  The  ac- 
counts of  these  writers  are  very  general ;  and  the  difficulty  of 
assigning  the  names  of  places,  as  used  by  them,  to  places  now 
known,  is  insurmountable.  Caesar  is  considered  the  best 
authority  in  what  he  did,  and  in  what  he  saw;  but  otherwise, 
in  what  he  heard  of.  He  describes  three  sorts  of  animals  of 
Germany,  which  never  existed  there;  one  of  them,  an  animal 
that  had  no  joints  in  its  legs,  and  if  by  any  accident  it  was 
prostrated,  it  had  no  power  to  rise. 

The  Netherlands,  when  earliest  known,  were  inhabited  by 
several  different  tribes,  who  were  called  by  different  names. 
The  forest  of  Ardennes  extended  vvestwardly  from  the  Rhine  to 
the  Scheldt.  Within  this  forest  the  Romans  found  a  warlike 
people,  whom  they  called  the  Belgae.  There  were  a  people 
whom  Caesar  calls  Menapians,  who  inhabited  the  country 
about  Antwerp,  and  thence  westward ly  to  the  ocean.  Between 
the  Rhine  and  the  Meuse,  were  the  Batavi,  from  whom  the 
modern  name  of  Batavians  is  derived.  Around  the  east  and 
north  sides  of  the  Zuyder  Zee,  were  the  Frisons,  as  it  is  sup- 
posed, who  were  neither  conquered  by  the  Romans,  nor  would 
they  consent  to  become  allies.  Most  of  the  people  found  in 
what  is  now  Belgium,  became  subjects  of  the  Romans,  by 
force  or  consent.  Many  of  their  males  entered  the  military 
service,  and  made  excellent  soldiers,  especially  as  cavalry. 
The  Menapians  are  mentioned  as  being  a  maritime  and  trading 
people  in  a  rude  way,  dealing  in  fish  and  salt.  The  people 
of  what  is  now  called  the  kingdom  of  Holland,  are  spoken  of 
as  devoted  to  liberty,  though  dwelling  in  a  wretched  condition, 
in  a  land,  where,(says  Pliny,)  "  when  the  sea  rises,  they  appear 
like  navigators ;  when  it  retires,  they  seem  as  though  they  had 
been  shipwrecked."     (Grattan,  16.) 

These  ancient  tribes  of  Belgium  were  exterminated,  or  lost, 
in  the  victorious  invasion  of  the  Salian  Franks,  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  third  century.  The  Franks  came  from  what  is  now 
17 


194  NETHERLANDS. 

Westphalia,  across  the  Rhine,  and  extended  their  conquests 
into  France.  The  Frison  race  in  Holland,  defended  by  the 
nature  of  their  country,  and  their  own  bravery,  preserved  their 
existence,  and  their  independence. 

From  the  time  of  the  coming  of  the  Franks  in  250,  to  the 
time  of  Charlemagne,  800,  history  occupies  itself  in  the  wars 
of  Saxons,  Frisons,  and  Frenchmen;  the  latter  under  the 
names  of  Merovingians,  and  Carlovingians.  Its  details  are 
few  and  uninteresting  to  those  who  have  no  taste  for  the  field 
of  battle,  and  the  common  barbarities  of  war.  The  more 
material  facts,  are  the  progress  of  society.  Christianity  had 
been  introduced ;  there  were,  consequently,  churches,  monas- 
teries, and  ecclesiastical  domains,  and  rich  prelates,  and  all  the 
subordinate  classes  of  priesthood.  The  lowlands  had  been 
diked;  the  morasses  turned  into  productive  fields  ;  very  impor- 
tant towns  had  arisen,  and  society  was  divided,  as  elsewhere 
in  Europe,  into  great  landed  proprietors,  and  dependent  serfs 
or  vassals.  The  abby  of  Nivelle,  (twenty  miles  south  of 
Brussels,)  alone,  is  said  (by  Grattan)  to  have  had  fourteen 
thousand  families  of  vassals.  The  whole  of  this  country  was 
comprised  in  the  empire  of  Charlemagne:  but  it  deserves  to  be 
remembered  that  the  Frisons  (who  held  the  country  now  the 
northern  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Holland)  preserved  their 
social  and  civil  rights  in  their  interior  government,  though 
they  were  the  subjects  of  that  monarch. 

When  France  and  Germany  ceased  to  be  parts  of  one  em- 
pire, by  the  treaty  of  Verdun,  in  843,  the  kingdom  of  France 
extended  to  the  mouth  of  the  Scheldt.  The  residue  of  Belgium 
with  Holland,  became  part  of  the  German  empire.  The  whole 
territory  was  held  by  feudal  lords,  and  the  names  of  counts  of 
Flanders,  of  Lorraine,  of  Namur,  of  Ardenne,  and  many  others, 
occur  in  history.  The  most  potent  territorial  lords  were  the 
bishops.  In  1018,  a  count  of  Friesland  is  mentioned  as  en- 
gaged in  a  war  with  the  bishop  of  Utrecht.  It  afterwards 
appears,  however,  that  the  Frisons  still  preserved  their  inde- 
pendence, as  the  chronicler  Froissart,  in  the  year  1380,  re- 
marks of  them  that  they  were  a  most  unreasonable  people  in 
refusing  to  submit  themselves  to  great  lords.     (Grattan,  41.) 

In  the  year  1100,  the  country  called  Belgium,  from  the  sea 
to  the  Rhine,  had  taken  the  common  course  of  all  the  other 
states  of  Europe,  in  being  divided  into  principalities,  dukedoms, 
counties,  and  petty  sovereignties,  the  fortunes  of  which  depend- 
ed on  wars,  marriages,  inheritances,  and  conquests.  In  all  these 
respects  the  history  of  any  one  part  of  Europe  is  the  history, 
substantially,  of  all  others. 


NETHERLANDS.  195 

In  1098  began«the  Holy  Wars,  and  these  Belgic  nobles  took 
an  active  part  in  that  delusion.  Godfrey  de  Bouillon,  of 
Lorraine,  became  king-  of  Jerusalem  before  the  end  of  the  cen- 
tury. Whether  from  the  absence  of  so  many  nobles,  or  from 
the  awakening  impulse  of  the  crusades,  or  whatever  other 
cause,  the  towns  in  Belgium,  from  about  this  time,  advanced 
rapidly  in  manufactures  and  commerce.  The  wool  of  England 
was  wrought  into  the  finest  cloths  in  Flanders;  and  great 
quantities  of  linen  were  made.  The  Flemmings  owned  vessels, 
and  carried  on  a  maritime  commerce  with  distant  countries  as 
far  as  the  Garonne  in  France,  and  to  ports  in  Spain.  The 
land  was  cultivated,  for  its  products  wrere  now  wanted.  In- 
dustry, in  various  branches,  created  wealth ;  wealth  required 
security;  security  demanded  laws;  and  laws  could  only  be 
made  by  those  who  perceived  the  utility  of  them.  Equal  and 
just  laws  are  the  proper  evidence  of  the  knowledge  of  civil 
liberty.  The  people  of  Flanders  had  great  difficulties  to 
contend  with,  in  maintaining  their  hold  on  freedom.  Within 
their  territories  they  had  the  tyranny  of  their  petty  sovereigns ; 
and  on  their  southern  border,  the  French,  who  were  frequently 
involved  in  warfare  with  these  sovereigns ;  and  on  the  east, 
they  had  the  German  emperors,  who  claimed  a  sovereignty 
over  all  their  sovereigns. 

The  contentions  between  France  and  Germany  brought 
the  military  power  of  these  two  countries  into  conflict  in  the 
Netherlands.  The  knights  and  gentlemen  of  Brabant,  arrang- 
ed at  that  time  on  the  side  of  the  German  emperor,  suffered 
severely  in  the  battle  of  Bouvines,  fought  between  Otho  IV. 
and  Philip  II.,  July,  1214.  Otho,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
thousand,  was  defeated  by  Philip,  who  had  only  fifty  thousand. 
Bouvines  is  twenty  miles  south  of  Namur. 

At  this  time,  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the 
Netherlands  were  settled,  as  to  the  principal  towns  and  cities, 
and  geographical  names,  nearly  as  that  country  has  since  been 
known.  Bruges,  the  commercial  city  of  the  middle  ages,  is 
east  of  Ostend,  fifteen  miles.  Ghent  is  thirty  miles  east  of 
Bruges.  Antwerp,  on  the  Scheldt,  is  thirty  miles  north-east 
from  Ghent ;  Brussels  about  the  same  distance  south-east  of 
Ghent,  and  about  the  same  distance  south  of  Antwerp.  These 
three  cities  are  at  the  points  of  a  triangle.  Namur  is  thirty-five 
miles  south-east  of  Brussels.  Luxemburgh  is  eighty  miles 
south-east  of  Namur.  The  Moselle  is  fifteen  miles  south-east 
of  Luxemburgh,  and  that  river  is  the  boundary  of  the  Nether- 
lands. Brussels  is  sixty  miles  north-east  from  the  north-east 
boundary  of  France. 


196  NETHERLANDS. 

Along  the  coast  north-east  from  the  French  boundary,  was 
Flanders,  to  the  Scheldt;  then  Zealand,  composed  of  the  islands 
formed  where  the  great  rivers  empty ;  then  Holland,  between 
the  Ocean,  Utrecht,  and  the  Zuyder  Zee.  Next  to  France, 
south-east  of  Flanders,  was  the  duchy  of  Hainault ;  north-east 
of  Hainault  was  Brabant,  extending  one  hundred  and  ten  miles 
to  the  Moselle.  Next  to  France,  and  south-east  of  Brabant, 
was  Namur;  north-east  of  Namur,  the  duchy  of  Liege.  Next 
to  France,  and  south-east  of  Namur,  was  the  great  duchy  of 
Luxemburgh;  and  north-east  of  that,  the  duchy  of  Juliers; 
north-east  of  that,  the  duchy  of  Cleves;  north-east  of  Cleves, 
was  Gelders ;  north  of  Gelders,  Overyssel,  lying  east  of  the 
Zuyder  Zee.  North  of  Overyssel,  was  Ommerlande;  and 
Friesland  and  Groningen  occupied  the  seacoast  on  the  north 
and  west.  The  territorial  subdivisions  are  too  minute  to  be 
noticed. 

In  the  two  centuries,  1200  to  1400,  Flanders,  Hainault, 
Brabant,  Utrecht,  and  Holland,  became  rich  and  powerful, 
through  their  industry;  and  had  imbibed  a  spirit  of  liberty, 
which  distinguished  their  inhabitants  from  all  others  in  Eu- 
rope, except  those  of  the  Hanse  towns,  and  some  Italian  cities, 
where  like  effects  had  been  produced  from  similar  causes. 
The  people  insisted  on  having  a  share  in  legislation,  and  in 
the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  on  bearing  arms.  They  often 
asserted  their  rights  against  territorial  sovereigns,  and  some- 
times drove  them  out,  or  forced  them  to  terms.  Men  of 
humble  origin  often  arose  as  patriots  and  warriors,  and  secured 
to  themselves  a  place  in  history.  James  d'Arteveldt  was  one 
of  these,  in  the  years  1330  to  1345.  He  was  called  the  brewer 
of  Ghent.  Whether  that  was  his  business,  is  doubtful.  He 
was  enrolled  as  a  mechanic,  to  make  him  eligible,  it  is  said,  to 
office ;  a  case  very  common  in  the  republican  cities  of  Italy. 
A  weaver  of  Ghent  commanded  an  army  in  aid  of  Edward  III. 
in  1348,  at  the  siege  of  Calais.  Louis  le  Male  was  hereditary 
count  of  Flanders.  He  had  been  driven  out  by  the  patriotic 
citizens,  who  gloriously  defeated  him  and  his  allies,  the  French. 
Philip,  the  duke  of  Burgundy,  who  was  the  sovereign  of 
Burgundy  in  France,  and  son-in-law  of  Louis  le  Male,  made 
a  compromising  peace,  and  was  admitted  to  the  succession  of 
Louis,  in  1348,  as  count  of  Flanders.  Thenext  year,  in  right 
of  his  wife,  Philip  acquired  Brabant. 

By  a  course  of  events,  of  which  our  limits  will  not  permit  a 
detailed  account,  (though  as  interesting  as  any  of  that  period, 
in  Europe)  the  whole  of  the  Netherlands,  except  the  country 


NETHERLANDS.  197 

north-east  of  the  Zuyder  Zee,  was  acquired  by  the  dukes  of 
Burgundy.  This  object  was  accomplished  very  near  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  (1443—1467.)  The  Bur- 
gundy family  was  of  royal  origin.  John,  king  of  France, 
made  his  son,  Philip  the  Bold,  duke  of  Burgundy.  Philip's 
son,  John  the  Fearless,  succeeded  him.  The  son  of  John  was 
Philip,  the  Good,  who  little  deserved  that  distinction.  This 
Philip's  son  was  Charles  the  Rash,  (count  of  Charlerois  in  his 
father's  life-time,)  and  his  successor  in  1467,  as  duke  of  Bur- 
gundy, and  sovereign  of  the  Netherlands,  but  a  feudatory  of 
the  king  of  France,  who  was,  at  this  time,  the  cunning  and 
deceitful  Louis  XL* 

Charles  the  Rash  had  a  territory  little  inferior  to  that  of  his 
former  friend  Louis,  now  his  rival,  and  soon  after,  his  impla- 
cable and  malicious  foe.  Charles  desired  to  be  the  equal  of 
Louis,  and  to  assume  a  royal  rank.  His  project  was,  to  rule 
from  the  Zuyder  Zee,  along  the  Rhine,  and  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Rhone ;  that  is,  from  the  North  sea  to  the  Mediterranean. 
He  began  by  conquering  Lorraine,  which  adjoined,  and  was 
situated  south  of  Luxemburgh,  part  of  his  dominions,  and 
having  Franche  Comte  south  of  it,  part  also,  of  the  duke's 
dominions.  Franche  Comte  has  Switzerland  on  the  south- 
east. The  sovereignty  of  Switzerland  was  claimed,  at  this 
time,  by  the  duke  of  Austria,  and  Charles  purchased  the 
duke's  claim,  which  gave  no  more  than  a  pretension  of  con- 
quest. Switzerland  would  be  his,  when  he  made  it  so  by 
force.  It  is  said  of  Charles  that  he  had  read  the  history  of 
Hannibal,  and  aspired,  like  him,  to  cross  the  Alps,  and  per- 
haps annex  Italy  to  his  empire.  He  approached  Switzerland 
with  an  army  of  forty  thousand  men,  or  sixty  thousand,  as 
accounts  differ  in  this  respect.  The  river  Aar  runs  from  the 
lake  Neuchatel,  north-east  to  the  Rhine.  Charles  pursued 
the  valley  of  the  Aar  to  the  southwest  end  of  the  lake,  and 
besieged  Granson,  a  strong  town,  situate  near  its  border.  The 
Swiss,  hearing  of  his  approach  and  purpose,  sent  ambassadors 
to  him,  who  said,  "  You  have  little  to  gain  with  us.  The  gold 
on  the  bits  of  your  bridles,  and  on  the  spurs  of  your  knights, 
is  worth  more  than  all  our  land  contains."  In  February, 
1476,  the  siege  of  Granson  began. 

The  fate  of  Charles  in  assailing  Switzerland  will  be  con- 
sidered in  notices  of  that  country.  In  this  place,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  say,  that  he  was  utterly  defeated  by  the  Swiss,  at 

*  The  same  whom  Sir  Walter  Scott  has  introduced  to  so  many  readers, 
17* 


198 


FRANCE. 


Granson.  Three  months  afterwards,  Charles  appeared  with 
another  army  of  thirty  thousand  men,  and  again  met  the  Swiss 
at  Morat,  on  a  lake  of  the  same  name,  east  of  the  north-east 
end  of  lake  Neuchatel,  and  twenty  miles  west  from  Berne. 
Here  Charles  was  again  defeated.  He  had  a  body  of  English 
knights  in  his  army,  commanded  by  the  duke  of  Somerset.  All 
of  them  were  slain.  Charles  was  so  chagrined  at  this  second  de- 
feat, that  he  resolved  not  to  shave  his  beard,  nor  cut  his  nails,  till 
he  had  subdued  the  Swiss.  But  his  disasters  encouraged  his 
new  subjects  in  Lorraine  to  revolt,  and  he  was  called  thither 
to  reduce  them.  In  the  following  winter  he  fought  a  battle 
near  the  city  of  Nancy,  in  Lorraine,  (about  two  hundred  miles 
directly  east  of  Paris,)  where  he  perished  miserably,  at  the  age 
of  forty-four.  There  are  different  accounts  of  his  death;  one 
is,  that  his  body  was  found  in  a  half-frozen  pool,  transfixed  by 
a  dart ;  and  that  he  was  known  by  the  length  of  his  beard  and 
nails. 

He  left  an  only  daughter,  named  Mary,  who  inherited  his 
great  domains.  Mary  married  the  archduke  Maximilian,  of 
Austria,  who  was  afterwards  emperor.  This  marriage  de- 
cided the  fortunes  of  Europe  for  centuries  afterwards.  Their 
son  was  Philip,  who  married  Jane,  the  daughter  and  heiress 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  of  Spain.  Their  son  was  Charles 
V.,  who  was  king  of  Spain,  and  heir  to  the  Netherlands,  under 
his  grandmother  Mary.  He  was  afterwards  elected  emperor  of 
Germany.  He  was  also  monarch  of  no  small  part  of  Italy ; 
and  thus,  excepting  France  and  Switzerland,  had  an  empire 
little  less  extensive  than  that  of  Charlemagne,  seven  hundred 
years  before. 

The  history  of  the  Netherlands  from  the  accession  of  Charles 
V.,  forms  an  important  portion  of  European  history,  to  be 
hereafter  considered. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

FRANCE,  FROM  500  TO  THE    REIGN    OF    THE    CARLOVINGIANS. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century,  the  territory  of  mod- 
ern France  was  thus  possessed : — The  northern  part  had  been 
conquered  by  the  Franks,  under  Clovis ;  the  south-western 
part,  next  to  Spain,  was  held  by  Euric  the  Great,  the  Visigoth 


FRANCE.  199 

king,  whose  seat  of  empire  was  Bordeaux,  on  the  river  Ga- 
ronne ;  eastwardly  of  the  Rhone,  and  between  that  and  the 
Alps,  and  towards  the  Rhine  was  the  Burgundian  kingdom. 
Intermixed  with  all  these  were  the  descendants  of  the  ancient 
Celts,  and  of  that  population  which  the  Romans  had  intro- 
duced in  the  course  of  the  preceding  six  centuries.  From 
these  materials,  the  present  French  nation  is  derived.  It  is 
the  only  country  of  Europe  whose  inhabitants  claim  an  un- 
broken descent  from  the  original  barbarian  conquerors.  France 
has  been  held  by  Frenchmen  only,  at  least  since  the  time  of 
Clovis;  that  is,  no  new  people  have,  since  that  time,  conquer- 
ed and  settled  in  France,  except  the  Normans,  under  Rollo,  in 
911,  who  came  from  Norway,  but  who  held  only  one  prov- 
ince. The  founder  of  the  French  kingdom,  Clovis,  has  been 
before  mentioned.  He  was  of  the  Merovingian  race,  so  called 
from  an  ancestor  named  Merovius.  He  led  the  Franks  into 
France  from  a  country  somewhere  on  the  east  side  of  the  lower 
Rhine.  When  he  entered  France,  about  the  year  485,  Sya- 
grius,  the  last  of  the  Roman  provincial  governors,  maintained 
the  semblance  of  royal  authority  at  Soissons,  sixty  miles  north- 
east of  Paris.  Clovis  attacked  and  conquered  this  person, 
who  fled  south,  to  the  Burgundians.  They  being  threatened 
by  Clovis,  surrendered  him,  and  he  was  put  to  death.  This 
was  the  last  of  Roman  authority  in  Gaul,  in  the  year  486. 
The  next  object  of  Clovis  was  to  attack  the  Visigoths.  The 
battle  of  Poictiers  or  Vouille,  has  been  mentioned  in  the 
notices  of  Spain  ;  the  effect  was  to  extend  the  French  king- 
dom to  the  Pyrenees.  Clovis  had  married  Clotilda,  a  niece  of 
the  king  of  Burgundy.  By  her  persuasion  and  that  of  her 
priests,  he  was  induced  to  think  of  conversion.  While  in  this 
state,  he  fought  a  battle  with  the  German  people  called  the  Ale- 
manni,  who  dwelt  on  the  east  side  of  the  Upper  Rhine.  Being 
hard  pressed,  he  vowed  that,  if  he  gained  the  victory,  he  would 
acknowledge  conversion.  A  fortunate  turn  in  the  conflict 
qualified  him  to  perform  his  vow.  He  and  three  thousand  of 
his  warriors  were  baptized.  But  his  new  religion  did  not 
make  him  a  better  monarch  or  a  better  man.  He  was  only  a 
barbarous  chief,  and  hesitated  at  no  crime,  however  atrocious, 
if  adapted  to  his  interest,  convenience,  or  caprice.  He  died 
in  511,  at  the  age  of  forty-five,  having  reigned  thirty  years, 
leaving  four  sons.  He  made  Paris  the  seat  of  empire,  and  it 
has  ever  since  been  the  capital  of  France.  The  kingdom  of 
France  was  divided  among  the  four  sons  of  Clovis.  In  525, 
Burgundy  was  conquered  and  added  to  the  kingdom. 


,200  FRANCE. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  the  sixth  century,  the  events  in 
France,  of  which  historians  give  an  account,  consist  of  wars 
among  the  members  of  the  same  family,  contending  for  sove- 
reignty, with  various  fortune ;  and  of  rebellions,  punishments, 
and  terrible  crimes,  among  relatives.  Some  females  make  a 
distinguished  figure  in  this  century.  It  is  doubtful  what  credit 
is  to  be  given  to  these  accounts.  If  they  are  credible,  the  mo- 
tives appear  to  have  been  such  as  might  govern  a  depraved  fe- 
male heart.  Two  females  are  specially  mentioned.  Brunehaut, 
the  wife  of  Sigebert,  king  of  Austrasia,  (one  of  the  northern 
divisions  of  France,)  is  said  to  have  been  the  murderess  of 
ten  kings  and  royal  princes,  which  is  only  a  part  of  her  many 
crimes.  At  the  same  time,  lived  Fredegonde,  wife  of  Chil- 
peric,  king  of  Soissons,  (a  north-eastern  division  of  France,) 
who  was  distinguished  in  like  manner.  To  become  queen, 
she  caused  the  removal  of  the  existing  queen,  and  the  assassi- 
nation of  her  successor.  Having  become  queen  herself  by 
marrying  Chilperic,  she  caused  Brunehaut's  husband  to  be 
assassinated.  Next,  she  caused  two  sons  of  her  husband,  by 
his  former  wives,  to  be  murdered,  and  then  Chilperic  himself. 
She  thus  became  regent  during  her  own  son's  minority.  Yet 
she  died  a  natural  death,  leaving  the  kingdom  in  a  flourishing 
condition.  Brunehaut,  by  some  accounts,  ended  her  life  by 
having  been  fastened  to  the  tail  of  a  wild  horse  and  dragged 
till  she  was  dead.  If  these  are  facts,  they  are  the  best  indica- 
tions of  the  real  condition  of  the  country. 

Very  little,  however,  is  known  of  the  state  of  France  at  this 
time.  There  were  no  records,  except  among  the  priests.  No 
other  persons  could  write  or  read.  Gregory,  of  Tours,  is 
mentioned  as  having  flourished  in  this  century,  (570.)  He  is 
called  the  earliest  historian  of  France.  He  was  a  bishop,  and 
contemporary  with  Fredegonde.  He  wrote  eight  books  on 
the  virtues  and  miracles  of  the  saints.  This  may  give  some 
idea  of  the  value  of  history  from  the  same  hand,  mostly  limited 
to  the  events  of  the  French  church.  Gregory  is  often  quoted 
by  Gibbon,  Hallam,  and  others,  and  is  frequently  mentioned 
by  Montesquieu,  in  his  Spirit  of  Laws. 

It  is  believed,  as  Hallam  intimates  in  his  History  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  that  there  is  not  a  fact,  nor  a  person,  of  such 
importance  as  to  be  mentioned  in  French  history,  throughout 
the  whole  of  the  seventh  century.  It  was  one  continued  scene 
of  family  wars,  contentions,  and  crimes.  All  is  told  in  saying 
that  a  king  of  France  reigns,  and  dies  a  natural  death,  or  in 
battle,  or  by  violence,  and  leaves  his  kingdom  divided  among 


FRANCE.  201 

his  sons.  One  of  them,  by  some  means,  comes  to  be  sole 
monarch,  then  dies,  and  a  new  division  arises,  and  new  con- 
tentions, new  wars,  and  like  consequences,  as  in  the  preceding 
generation.  Intermingled  with  such  scenes,  will  be  found  no 
small  portion  of  oppression,  suffering,  and  misery  among  the 
mass  of  people,  and  such  influence  on  public  and  private  life 
as  an  adroit  priesthood  could  exercise  over  an  ignorant  and 
superstitious  community. 

In  the  eighth  century,  some  events  occur  which  deserve 
notice,  because  they  led  to  some  important  changes.  In  the 
preceding  century,  the  monarchs  of  France  had  become  very 
insignificant  persons.  A  new  officer  appeared  under  the 
name  of  mayor  of  the  palace,  who  was,  in  fact,  the  real  mon- 
arch. He  commanded  the  military  force,  disposed  of  favors, 
places,  revenues,  keeping  the  king  in  the  interior  of  the  palace 
to  be  amused  with  trifles,  and  to  be  of  no  other  public  use 
than  to  exist,  so  that  the  mayors  might  act  in  the  name  of 
royal  authority.  This  did  not  long  satisfy  the  mayors.  They 
naturally  concluded,  that  as  they  had  to  do  the  work  of  kings, 
they  might  more  conveniently  do  it  in  their  own  name  and 
right.  It  happened,  towards  the  close  of  the  seventh  century, 
(680,)  that  Pepin  Heristal  was  the  real  sovereign  of  France, 
in  the  name  of  mayor  of  the  palace.  He  transmitted  his 
power  to  his  son  Charles,  surnamed  Martel,  (the  hammer,) 
from  his  renown  in  breaking  down  his  foes.  In  this  person's 
time,  a  very  important  event  happened  in  the  form  of  a  battle. 
It  is  common  to  say,  that  if  such  an  event  had  or  had  not  hap- 
pened, as  the  case  may  be,  a  very  different  state  of  things 
might  have  existed.  This  can,  sometimes,  be  said  with  much 
certainty  in  public  and  private  affairs.  If  such  conjecture  be 
admissible  on  any  occasion,  it  would  be  in  one  event  of  Charles 
Martel's  life.     This  requires  some  introductory  remarks. 

In  the  sketches  of  Spain,  the  Moors,  Arabians,  or  Saracens, 
(usually  called  the  Moors  in  Spanish  history,)  have  been  men- 
tioned as  the  conquerors  of  that  country.  They  assembled  a 
very  numerous  army  there,  and  invaded  France.  They  are 
supposed  to  have  intended  to  conquer  all  the  west  of  Europe, 
and  then  to  move  towards  the  east,  expecting  that  their  coun- 
trymen, the  Saracens,  would  enter  Europe  by  the  way  of  Con- 
stantinople, subduing  all  the  east,  until  they  united  with  the 
Moors.  In  the  year  732,  the  Moorish  army  and  that  of 
Charles  Martel  met  at  a  place  supposed  to  be  fifty  miles  south 
of  the  Loire,  and  one  hundred  east  of  the  Atlantic  shore,  and 
between  the  city  of  Tours  and  Poitiers.     In  this  battle,  the 


202  FRANCE. 

Moorish  chief  and  three  hundred  thousand  of  his  army  were 
slain.  If  the  victory  had  been  to  them,  and  France  had  been 
subdued,  the  supposition  is,  that  Mahommedans  and  their  re- 
ligion might  have  been  established  in  the  west  of  Europe,  and 
with  them  the  same  barbarism  which  now  reigns  over  the 
once  beautiful  and  populous  regions  from  the  waters  that  sepa- 
rate Europe  and  Asia  to  the  confines  of  China.  Charles 
Martel  knew  nothing  of  the  consequences  of  his  memorable 
victory ;  with  him  it  was  only  the  common  question,  which  of 
the  two  parties  was  the  strongest.  But  the  friends  of  civiliza- 
tion and  refinement,  even  of  the  present  day,  have  cause  to  be 
grateful  that  Charles  proved  to  be  the  victor.  The  followers 
of  Mahomet  were  driven  back  to  Spain,  and  are  no  more  heard 
of  in  the  west  of  Europe,  except  in  that  country  which  they 
held  for  some  ages  afterwards. 

In  what  manner  could  Charles  Martel  have  assembled,  or- 
ganized, and  disciplined  a  military  force  in  that  age,  capable  of 
encountering  and  destroying  three  hundred  thousand  persons] 
If  there  be  a  want  of  accuracy  as  to  the  number  slain,  yet 
there  must  have  been  extraordinary  armies,  on  both  sides,  for 
any  age  of  the  world.  Nothing  is  known  of  the  numbers 
who  then  inhabited  France ;  but  this  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  fact,  that  every  free  male  adult  was  liable  to  be  a  soldier,  and 
was  held  to  render  military  service.  The  feudal  system,  known 
afterwards  in  Europe,  had  not  then  been  established  ;  but  all 
tenants  of  land  were  held  to  accompany  some  superior  to  the 
wars.  The  precise  nature  of  this  obligation  has  been  lost  in 
the  lapse  of  time.  It  is  probable  that  France  was  held  by 
great  landed  proprietors,  and  that  the  whole  population,  with 
few  exceptions,  were  required  to  arm  themselves,  and  provide 
their  own  maintenance,  when  called  to  the  field.  One  induce- 
ment, and  a  strong  one,  may  have  been  the  expectation  of  plun- 
der. It  is  very  certain,  that  in  whatsoever  other  way  these 
great  armies  may  have  been  embodied,  it  was  not  in  standing 
armies,  as  now  practised.  The  exclusive  occupation  of  a  soldier, 
as  now  understood,  was  unknown,  unless  we  consider  the  no- 
bles, only,  as  having  such  occupation. 

The  power  which  Charles  had  acquired  in  the  exercise  of 
the  royal  authority,  though  under  the  name  of  mayor,  enabled 
him  to  vest  the  like  power  in  his  son  Pepin.  At  this  time,  752, 
the  nominal  king  of  France  was  Childeric  III.  Pepin  concluded 
to  assume  the  title,  as  well  as  the  authority  of  king,  though 
with  the  consent  "  of  the  nation."  Whether  the  nobles,  and 
bishops,  and  great  landholders  are  intended  by  the  nation,  or 


CHARLEMAGNE.  203 

whether  it  included  some  other  portion  of  the  whole  people,  is 
unknown.  It  is  probable  that  the  prelates  were  active  agents 
in  the  plan  of  deposing  Childeric,  and  crowning  Pepin.  It 
was  effected  by  an  appeal  to  the  pope,  who  was  then  Zacharias. 
He  assumed  to  declare  that  he  who  had  the  power  of  a  king, 
should  also  have  the  title.  The  insignificant  Childeric  was 
conducted  from  the  palace  to  a  convent,  and  is  no  more  heard 
of.  With  him  ended  the  Merovingian  race  of  kings,  which 
had  existed  267  years,  from  Clovis.  With  Pepin  began  the 
Carlovingian  race,  in  the  year  752. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

The  Reign  of  Ike  Carlovingians — Charlemagne. 

Charles  Pepin's  reign  began  in  752,  and  ended  in  768. 
There  is  but  one  event  in  his  reign  which  had  lasting  conse- 
quences. He  was  invited  by  the  pope  to  conduct  an  army  to 
subdue  the  Lombards,  of  the  north  of  Italy,  who  had  become 
irreverent  and  troublesome.  Pepin  subdued  them,  and  made  a 
present  of  a  part  of  their  territories  to  the  pope.  The  reign 
of  Pepin's  son  and  successor,  Charlemagne,  (a  French  termina- 
tion of  the  Latin  magnus,  great,)  is  a  brilliant  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  France.  One  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  miseries 
of  France,  both  before  and  after  the  reign  of  this  monarch, 
was  the  practice  of  dividing  the  dominions  ofa  deceased  king, 
among  his  sons.  The  partition  was  never  satisfactory;  and  if 
it  could  have  been,  jealousies,  rivalry,  and  causes  of  war  were 
inevitable.  Those  who  should  have  been  the  best  friends,  were 
ever  the  bitterest  enemies.  If  they,  only,  had  been  the  suffer- 
ers, there  would  be  less  cause  for  regret;  but  their  warfare  ne- 
cessarily involved  all  their  subjects,  on  both  sides.  Pepin  di- 
vided his  kingdom  between  his  sons,  Carloman  and  Charles,  in 
768.  In  three  years  Carloman  died,  and  Charlemagne  became 
sole  monarch.  He  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men,  and 
one  of  the  most  efficient  monarchs  known  in  history.  He 
arose  in  an  age  of  darkness,  and  shone  with  a  glorious  light 
over  all  Europe.  He  disappeared,  and  a  darker  night  of  ig- 
norance, oppression,  tyranny  and  crime,  settled  for  ages  over 
the  Christian  world.  In  the  following  remarks,  on  this  reign, 
the  work  of  Hallam,  (Middle  Ages,)  is  taken  as  an  authority, 


204 


CHARLEMAGNE. 


among  others ;  but  especially  the  historical  lectures  of  profes- 
sor Guizot,  read  at  Paris,  in  the  year  1829. 

Charlemagne  will  not  be  found  to  have  been  an  Alfred,  but 
rather  a  Napoleon,  and,  considering  the  state  of  the  world 
when  he  lived,  not  his  inferior.  He  became  sole  monarch  of 
his  paternal  dominions  at  the  age  of  29  ;  he  reigned  43  years, 
and  died  in  814  at  the  age  of  72.  The  French  population  was 
composed  of  nobles  of  different  ranks ;  of  freemen,  of  slaves, 
and  of  all  the  various  classes  of  churchmen,  from  archbishops 
down  to  the  lowest  order  of  monks.  The  priesthood  held  in 
France,  and  in  all  countries  in  Europe,  where  Christianity 
was  professed,  rich  territories  and  great  personal  property. 
Besides  this,  the  few  persons  who  could  read  and  write  were 
of  this  order.  The  nobles  were  rude,  ignorant,  and  fit  only 
for  the  conflict  of  arms;  and  when  not  so  employed  were  easily 
allied  in  parties,  against  each  other,  or  against  the  reigning 
prince.  These  nobles  led  to  the  wars  the  principal  part  of  the 
efficient  force,  which  was  gathered  from  the  lands  over  which 
they  were  lords.  That  part  of  the  people  who  were  slaves, 
were  held  to  the  land,  and  passed  with  the  land,  and  were  its 
cultivators.  Knowledge  of  mechanical  arts,  internal  com- 
merce, workmanship,  devoted  to  the  luxuries  of  the  noble  and 
wealthy,  cannot  be  described  with  any  certainty.  The  benefits 
of  commerce,  with  other  countries,  must  have  been  known  in 
a  very  limited  degree,  in  that  age,  if  at  all.  Hunting,  gaming, 
and  riotous  feasting,  must  have  held  a  high  rank  among  their 
pleasures.  The  thousands  who  belonged  to  the  church  estab- 
lishments were  sustained  from  their  church  estates,  and  by  the 
tributes  which  the  Roman  priesthood  have  always  known  how 
to  extract  from  all  other  classes  of  society,  where  ignorance  and 
superstition  pass  by  the  name  of  religion.  Such  may  be  the 
outline  of  the  great  community  over  which  this  really  great 
man  arose,  to  exercise  a  royal  authority.  Among  the  eminent 
who  have  appeared  in  the  last  1000  years,  Charles  holds  an 
elevated  rank.  As  a  man,  he  will  be  found  to  have  had  strik- 
ing faults,  not  to  use  a  more  reproachful  term  ;  and  as  a  mon- 
arch, great  and  well-used  talents,  considering  the  age  in  which 
he  lived.  The  character  of  Charlemagne  has  been  drawn  by 
many  different  writers,  some  of  whom  were  eminent — Gibbon, 
Montesquieu,  Hallam,  and  Guizot,  may  be  considered  as  among 
the  most  so.  They  concur  in  those  points  which  are  most  ma- 
terial. An  emperor,  who  was  also  an  illustrious  individual, 
must  be  estimated  in  relation  to  the  age  of  the  world — the  power 
of  a  monarch  over  property,  liberty,  and  life — the  employments 


CHARLEMAGNE.  205 

of  his  subjects,  whether  in  peace  or  war — the  degree  of  intel- 
lectual and  moral  cultivation — the  influence  of  a  pure  or  per- 
verted religion — the  liabilities  of  one  nation  to  aggressions  from 
those  around  them.  These  are  among  the  elements  which 
necessarily  enter  into  the  estimate  of  character.  As  an  indi- 
vidual, one  is  to  be  estimated  as  worthy  or  unworthy,  accord- 
ing to  the  use  which  he  made  of  his  power.  If  he  used  it 
merely  to  gratify  himself,  regardless  of  the  natural  rights  of 
all  others ;  if  he  used  it  to  secure  the  welfare  of  those  who 
were  compelled  to  obey  him — if  he  sometimes  appears  in  the 
former  light,  and  sometimes  in  the  latter,  he  is  to  be  estimated 
accordingly.  The  delusions  incident  to  princely  rank  are  the 
usual  apologies  for  errors  in  thinking  too  much  of  one's  self, 
and  too  little  of  others.  There  are  persons  in  the  range  of  his- 
tory, who  were  far  more  worthy  than  Charlemagne,  whether 
considered  as  a  monarch,  or  a  man,  after  making  every  allow- 
ance for  the  circumstances  in  which  he  lived.  Alfred,  of  Eng- 
land, and  Louis  IX.,  of  France,  were  certainly  better  rulers, 
and  better  men  than  Charlemagne. 

His  empire  was  little  less  extensive  than  that  over  which 
Napoleon,  and  those  whom  he  made  kings,  ruled  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  century.  It  included  all  France,  all  Germany, 
and  the  low  countries,  to  the  northern  ocean  ;  part  of  Spain, 
and  nearly  all  Italy.  At  this  time  the  nobles  of  the  empire 
held  large  domains,  and  were  disposed  to  combine,  and  dispute 
his  authority.  One  motive  for  his  incessant  wars  may  have 
been  to  keep  these  nobles  occupied  in  conquests,  that  they 
might  have  no  leisure  to  conspire  against  him.  The  ostensi- 
ble cause  of  his  barbarous  warfare  with  the  Saxons,  on  his 
north-eastern  frontier,  was  to  force  them  to  embrace  Christiani- 
ty. He  carried  on  his  conquests  with  a  cruelty  which  cannot 
be  screened  by  apparent  motives,  nor  by  the  character  of  his  en- 
emies. He  forcibly  transferred  his  captives  to  other  countries, 
and  especially  to  Switzerland  and  Flanders.  No  writer  apol- 
ogises for  his  act  in  putting  to  death  4,500  disarmed  Saxons,  in 
one  day.  The  destruction  of  all  the  sacred  objects  of  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Saxons  cannot  be  excused  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  idolators,  nor  was  this  the  best  mode  of  making  them 
Christians. 

This  warfare  provoked  the  bitterest  resentment,  and  was 
continued  through  many  successive  years,  because  the  forces 
ordered  into  service  could  only  be  employed  for  a  certain 
number  of  days.  When  the  emperor  withdrew  for  the  time, 
Saxons  took  advantage  of  the  respite.  Before  the  war  with 
18 


206  CHARLEMAGNE. 

the  Saxons  ended,  the  emperor  was  called  to  Italy ;  and  here 
he  was  crowned  king  of  Italy,  with  the  iron  crown,  in  774.* 
This  event  followed  the  extinguishment  of  the  kingdom  of 
Lombardy,  in  the  north  of  Italy,  hereafter  to  be  mentioned. 
Napoleon  placed  the  iron  crown  on  his  own  head,  in  the  same 
place,  not  unmindful,  probably,  of  what  Charlemagne  had  done. 
It  was  a  part  of  Charlemagne's  policy  to  leave  the  conquered 
(when  he  did  not  prefer  to  remove  or  slay  them)  in  possession 
of  their  own  laws  and  customs,  to  prevent  rebellion.  In  778 
we  find  him  in  Spain,  contending  with  the  Moors.  In  this  ex- 
pedition fell  the  famous  Roland,  (a  knight,)  at  Roncevalles. 
On  his  return  from  Spain,  the  war  with  the  Saxons  was  renew- 
ed. These  are  only  some  of  his  wars;  for,  during  the  47  years 
of  his  reign,  with  Carloman,  or  alone,  there  was  but  one  year 
in  which  he  did  not  engage  in  some  war. 

On  Christmas  day,  in  the  year  800,  he  was  crowned  at  Rome, 
as  emperor  of  the  west,  by  Leo  the  third,  and  was  saluted  as 
Caesar  and  Augustus,  and  assumed  the  ornaments  of  the  an- 
cient Roman  emperors.  This  was  considered  as  a  renovation 
of  the  empire  of  the  west,  which  began  405  years  before,  on 
the  division  into  east  and  west,  by  Arcadius  and  Honorius. 
He  experienced,  both  before  and  after  this  event,  afflictive 
troubles  from  his  rebellious  sons,  whom  he  had  raised  to  the 
dignity  of  kings,  in  different  parts  of  his  dominions.  One  of 
his  sons  he  forced  to  become  a  monk.  His  son  Pepin,  and  his 
son  Charles,  died  in  his  life-time.  Louis,  only,  survived,  who 
succeeded  him  as  sole  monarch  over  his  vast  empire.  He  an- 
ticipated the  dismemberment  of  his  possessions.  He  knew 
that  efforts  to  this  end,  from  within  and  from  without,  would 
be  made,  and  might  have  believed,  without  overvaluing  him- 
self, that  a  hand  less  strong  than  his  own,  could  not  hold  his 
empire  together.  While  he  was  in  Italy,  he  saw  the  vessels 
of  the  Normans,  in  the  Mediterranean.  They  had  found  their 
way  thither  by  passing  around  Spain.  He  shed  tears  on  see- 
ing them ;  and,  probably,  felt  that  he  saw  in  them  the  allies  of 
the  revengeful  Saxons.  In  the  view  so  far  taken  of  this  per- 
son, he  appears  to  have  been  an  ambitious,  unrelenting  conquer- 
or. The  extenuation  may  be,  that  he  would  have  been  con- 
quered himself  if  he  had  not  conquered  others. 

There  are  other  views,  in  which  esteem  and  respect  are  due 
to  him.  He  was  fully  sensible  of  the  degradation  of  the  world, 
in  consequence   of  the  universal  ignorance.     He  became   the 

*  The  crown  of  Lombardy  was  an  iron  rinsr,  believed  to  have  been 
made,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  nails  taken  from  the  holy  cross. 


CHARLEMAGNE.  207 

friend  of  learning,  and  the  patron  of  learned  men.  He  was 
himself  illiterate,  until  his  manhood.  Learned  men  were  at- 
tracted to  his  court.  Teachers  of  Latin  and  mathematics  were 
invited  from  Italy.  He  founded  schools  of  theology,  and  of 
the  liberal  sciences  in  the  church  establishments.*  He  acquir- 
ed several  languages  himself,  and  delighted  in  the  society  of 
the  learned.  Besides  reading  himself,  whenever  he  had  leisure, 
he  had  always  some  one  to  read  to  him,  while  at  table,  or 
when  otherwise  engaged,  yet  so  that  he  could  listen.  He  at- 
tempted to  introduce  uniformity  of  weights  and  measures ;  and 
also  to  connect  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube,  by  a  canal.  He 
succeeded  in  neither  attempt.  He  endeavored  to  reform  wor- 
ship and  the  music  in  the  churches;  in  this  he  was  partially 
successful.  He  made  efforts  to  promote  commerce,  and  is  just- 
ly entitled  to  the  praise  of  having  foreseen  the  civilizing  and 
refining  effects  of  commercial  employments.  He  improved 
the  style  of  building,  and  adorned  Aix  La  Chapelle,  his  usual 
place  of  residence,  with  churches,  palaces,  and  baths.  His 
greatest  praise  is  found  in  the  laws  which  he  made,  to  promote 
the  agriculture,  industry,  and  welfare  of  his  subjects.  These 
laws  are  known  by  the  name  of  capitularies,  a  word  which  de- 
notes any  literary  work  composed  in  chapters. 

These  were  very  numerous,  and  related  to  a  great  va- 
riety of  subjects ;  and  are  supposed  to  have  been  the  sugges- 
tions of  his  own  mind.  In  Guizot's  lectures,  (vol.  ii.  p.  261, 
and  seq.)  there  is  an  examination  of  the  various  subjects  of 
these  capitularies.  They  show  that  the  utmost  effort  of  Char- 
lemagne was  made  to  improve  the  moral  and  social  condition 
of  his  people.  They  comprise  the  minutest  as  well  as  the 
most  important  objects.  He  assembled  in  his  palace  many 
learned  men,  and  established  a  school  there,  in  which  he  was 
himself  a  pupil.  Among  these  was  Alcuin,  an  Englishman, 
and  of  surprising  attainments  for  that  age.  He  passed  many 
years  in  the  relation  of  confidant,  counsellor,  and  intellectual 
prime  minister  of  Charles,  and  wrote  to  him  many  confidential 
letters.  There  is  an  illustrative  examination  of  these  letters 
by  Guizot,  (vol.  2.  p.  367—372.) 

This  monarch  erred  in  having  strengthened  the  power  of 
the  clergy,  and  in  having  aided  them  to  establish  a  dominion, 
under  which  Europe  groaned  for  ages,  and  which  brought 
one  of  his  own  successors  to  the  footstool  of  the  pope,  as  a  sup- 
plicating penitent.  The  apology  for  this  error  is  not  piety,  for 
this  perhaps  was  not  a  governing  principle,  but  to  raise  up  a 

*  There  is  a  fine  anecdote  of  him  in  a  note  to  the  second  volume  of 
Tytler's  Universal  History,   p.  77. 


208  CHARLEMAGNE. 

power  which  would  balance  the  refractory  nobles.  Kings,  as 
well  as  nobles,  throughout  all  Europe,  afterwards  trembled  at 
the  maledictions  of  the  pope  of  Rome.  As  an  individual, 
Charlemagne  was  like  most  other  men,  a  mixed  character. 
Fewer  crimes  and  follies  than  might  have  been  expected,  are 
charged  to  him,  considering  that  he  was  subject  to  no  control. 
Then,  as  now,  an  emperor  may  do  acts  without  reproach,  which 
would  disgrace  a  private  person.  He  had  nine  wives  in  suc- 
cession, disposing  of  them  merely  from  caprice;  and,  in  such 
respects,  his  example  must  have  warred  with  his  moral  pre- 
cepts. Yet  it  is  said  that  he  was  a  good  father,  and  exceed- 
ingly amiable,  and  condescending  in  his  deportment. 

He  despised  those  indications  of  grandeur  which  are  common 
to  little  minds,  and  which  are,  sometimes,  the  weakness  of 
strong  ones.  His  dress  was  simple,  his  repasts  frugal.  He 
was  a  severe  economist :  it  is  said  that  the  surplus  products 
of  his  own  lands,  and  even  of  his  poultry  yard,  were  sold  on 
his  own  account.  Like  Alfred,  he  had  a  biographer,  Eginhard, 
from  whom,  probably,  it  is  known,  that  in  person  he  was  large 
and  strong;  his  head  round — his  eye  large  and  lively — his 
countenance  serene — his  step  firm  and  manly.  His  ordinary 
apparel  was  thus  described :  A  linen  shirt,  a  coat  bordered 
with  silk,  long  covering  for  the  lower  limbs,  an  outside  cloak; 
and  always  wearing  a  sword  adorned  with  gold  and  silver.  It 
strikes  one  with  some  surprise,  that  a  person  who  spent  46 
years  of  his  reign  in  continued  and  severe  warfare,  should 
have  found  time  to  do  so  much,  in  affairs  which  were  entirely 
of  a  different  nature.  The  solution,  probably,  is,  that  war  was 
carried  on  only  in  a  favorable  part  of  the  year,  and  that  all 
the  winter  seasons  were  devoted  to  these  other  objects.  This 
great  man,  having  died  in  814,  at  the  age  of  72,  his  remains 
were  disposed  of  with  a  magnificence  corresponding  with  his 
life.  He  was  buried  at  Aix  La  Chapelle,*  in  a  vault,  seated  on 
a  throne  of  gold,  in  the  full  dress  of  an  emperor.  On  his 
head  was  his  crown;  in  his  hand  he  held  a  chalice;  (commun- 
ion cup;)  on  his  knees  lay  the  books  of  the  evangelists;  by  his 
side  lay  his  sword;  at  his  feet  lay  his  sceptre  and  shield.  The 
sepulchre  was  sealed,  and  over  it  was  raised  a  triumphal  arch, 
on  which  was  inscribed — "  Here  lies  the  body  of  Charles,  the 
great  and  orthodox  emperor,  who  gloriously  enlarged,  and  for 

*  This  is  now  a  free  and  imperial  city.  It  is  22  miles  N.  E.  of  Leige  ; 
40  west  of  Cologne,  on  the  Rhme,  and  220  N.  E.  from  Paris.  It  is  between 
the  Rhine  and  the  Meuse.  Long.  6,  3  deg.  E.  Lat.  50,  48  deg.  N.  It  is 
in  a  valley  surrounded  by  mountains. 


CHARLEMAGNE.  209 

forty-seven  years  happily  governed  the  empire  of  the  Franks." 
This  may  not,  perhaps,  be  deemed  extravagant  eulogy,  when 
it  is  considered  how  easy  it  is  to  praise  the  harmless  dead — 
praise  in  which  friends  and  foes  may,  sometimes,  cordially 
unite.  This  eulogy  may  be  the  more  just,  if  that  which  is  said 
of  him  by  a  recent  historian  be  true  : — "  His  greatest  praise  is 
that  he  prevented  the  total  decline  of  the  sciences  in  the  west, 
and  supplied  new  aliment  to  their  expiring  light ;  that  he  con- 
sidered the  improvement  of  nations  as  important  as  their  union 
and  subjugation." 

It  should  be  taken  into  view,  that  in  the  time  of  Charle- 
magne, the  press  had  not  been  invented,  the  art  of  writing  had 
been  acquired  by  very  few,  and  those  few  were  ecclesiastics. 
The  written  language  of  the  time  was  Latin,  and  that  language 
was  known  only  to  the  small  number  who  were  educated. 
The  laws  were  in  Latin,  and  could  be  known  only  by  transla- 
tions into  the  several  languages  spoken  within  the  extensive 
limits  of  the  empire.  Translations  were  probably  oral,  and  if 
retained  by  those  who  heard  them,  it  could  only  be  by  memo- 
ry. The  communications  made  from  the  emperor  throughout 
his  dominions,  must  have  been  by  special  messengers.  The 
empire  was  divided  into  counties,  over  each  of  which  was 
appointed  a  ruler  by  the  name  of  count.*  Over  several  coun- 
ties was  placed  a  duke.  These  officers  exercised  the  powers 
of  sovereignty  in  the  name  of  the  emperor.  All  of  them  were 
military  as  well  as  civil  officers.  To  them  belonged  (or  under 
their  supervision)  the  assessment  of  taxes,  the  administration 
of  justice,  the  embodying  of  the  armed  forces,  and  the  internal 
police.  The  opportunities  to  tyrannize  were  ever  present,  and 
the  disposition  to  do  so,  rarely  wanting.  From  these  outlines 
may  be  drawn  the  comparison  arising  from  a  free  press.  The 
limitation  of  power  by  voluntary  constitutions — the  right  of 
election — popular  governments — equal  rights — the  facility  of 
comparing  opinions — learned  and  righteous  judges — open 
courts — personal  freedom — defined  modes  of  punishment,  and 
the  absence  of  all  hereditary  distinction.  It  is  under  such  cir- 
cumstances that  the  character  and  conduct  of  Charlemagne  is 
to  be  estimated.  The  emperor  of  the  west,  (which  included 
all  western  Europe,)  next  after  Charlemagne,  was  his  son, 
Louis  le  Debonnaire. 

*  These  territorial  divisions  have  the  same  name  with  those  instituted 
by  Alfred,  but  the  organization  by  Alfred  is  thought  to  have  been  essen- 
tially different,  and  far  more  effective. 

18* 


210  FRANCE. 

This  surname  is  said  to  mean  either  pious  or  good-natured. 
He  was  a  feeble  representative  of  his  father.  His  sons,  aided 
by  powerful  nobles,  rebelled,  and  caused  great  affliction  to  him, 
and  serious  troubles  in  his  dominions.  These  family  conten- 
tions, though  among  princes,  teach  nothing,  and  are  not  worthy 
of  examination.  This  contention,  after  many  battles,  appears 
to  have  been  adjusted,  for  a  time,  by  a  treaty  made  at  Verdun 
in  843,  by  which  the  contending  descendants  of  Louis  divided 
Europe,  so  far  as  it  was  held  by  Charlemagne,  among  them- 
selves. This  may  be  considered  as  the  first  step  towards  the 
separation  of  France  and  Germany ;  but,  in  885,  a  monarch 
called  Charles  the  Fat,  united  France  and  Germany  again, 
under  his  dominion.  From  this  time  to  987,  there  was  a  suc- 
cession of  feeble  and  insignificant  monarchs  in  France,  who 
were  not  of  importance  enough  to  be  even  named,  and  who 
are  considered  to  be  of  the  blood  of  Charlemagne.  The  last 
of  them  was  Louis,  who  was  only  nominally  king.  Hugh 
Capet  was  the  king,  in  fact.  He  assumed  the  title,  on  the 
death  of  Louis,  and  is  the  founder  of  the  Capetian  race. 

This  race  has  endured  nearly  a  thousand  years,  though 
every  variety  of  fortune  has  been  experienced  among  them 
which  can  be  known  to  kings  and  princes.  One  respectable 
authority  (the  American  Encyclopaedia)  states,  that  of  this 
family  there  have  been  thirty-six  kings  of  France,  twenty-two 
of  Portugal,  eleven  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  five  of  Spain,  three 
of  Hungary,  three  of  Navarre,  three  emperors  of  Constantino- 
ple, seventeen  dukes  of  Burgundy,  twelve  dukes  of  Brittany, 
two  of  Lorraine,  and  four  of  Parma. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE  STATE  OF  FRANCE  IN  THE  YEAR  1000. 

The  territory  of  modern  France  is  bounded  north-eastwardly 
by  the  kingdom  of  Belgium,  from  the  North  Sea  to  the  river 
Moselle,  and  thence,  by  a  continuation  of  the  same  south- 
eastwardly  line,  by  Prussian  Bavaria,  (which  is  west  of  the 
Rhine,)  until  it  comes  to  that  river.  Then  bounded  east  on 
the  Rhine,  till  it  comes  near  Basle,  in  Switzerland,  where 
this  river  turns  from  a  west  to  a  north  course.  Thence  bound- 
ing  south-eastwardly  along   the  vallies  and   the   mountains 


FRANCE.  211 

which  separate  France  from  Switzerland.  Thence  the  boun- 
dary line  runs  south-eastwardly  through  the  Alpine  territories, 
having  Savoy  and  Italy  on  the  north-east,  to  Nice,  on  the 
Mediterranean.  The  south  line  is  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
and  the  south-western,  the  Pyrenees,  which  separate  France 
from  Spain.  On  the  west  side  is  the  Bay  of  Biscay  and  part 
of  the  Atlantic.  On  the  north-east  is  the  English  channel 
and  the  Straits  of  Dover,  to  Dunkirk,  where  the  kingdom 
of  Belgium  begins.  France  lies  between  4°  50'  and  8°  15' 
east  longitude,  and  between  42°  20'  and  51°  5'  north  latitude. 
It  contains  two  hundred  thousand  square  miles ;  its  length, 
from  north  to  south,  is  about  seven  hundred  miles  ;  its  average 
breadth  about  five  hundred.  Taken  as  a  whole,  it  is  one  of 
the  finest  kingdoms  of  Europe,  having  many  superior  qualities 
in  agriculture,  manufacturing,  and  commerce ;  and  in  position, 
relatively,  to  other  countries. 

In  the  year  1000,  it  was  divided  into  thirty-three  principali- 
ties, dukedoms,  or  provinces,  many  of  which  were  entirely 
independent  of  the  crown.  Some  of  them,  around  Paris,  and 
in  the  north-eastern  part,  were  the  property  of  the  crown,  and 
some  of  them  adjoining  these  on  the  north,  west,  and  south, 
were  sovereignties,  independent  of  the  king,  excepting  in  the 
relation  of  feuds,  of  which  the  king  was  the  chief  lord.  These 
territorial  divisions  had  become  hereditary,  by  males  and  fe- 
males, and  passed,  by  marriages  of  heiresses,  to  their  husbands. 
This  was  not  the  case  with  the  crown  itself,  which  was  never 
inheritable  by  females,  in  France.  This  was  a  regulation  of 
very  early  times,  and  is  known  as  the  Salic  law. 

It  is  difficult  to  describe  the  social  and  political  condition  of 
France  at  the  commencement  of  the  eleventh  century.  It  is  said, 
by  the  best  writers,  who  have  examined  all  the  records  which 
remain,  that  nothing  better  than  general  views  can  be  taken. 
First,  the  king  had  a  very  limited  power,  with  little  ability  to 
enforce .excn  that.  Secondly,  the  great  nobles  had  acquired 
hereditary  rights  to  their  territories,  and  exercised  a  sovereign 
authority  within  them.  They  made  war  on  each  other,  and 
administered  justice  as  they  saw  fit.  They  obeyed  or  diso- 
beyed the  king,  in  the  wars  in  which  he  engaged,  at  their  own 
pleasure.  There  were  various  grades  of  these  nobles,  depen- 
dent on  the  extent  of  their  dominions.  Prelates  of  the  Roman 
church  possessed  great  landed  estates,  and  sustained  the  rela- 
tion of  vassals,  under  the  feudal  system.  The  great  body  of 
people,  who  were  neither  nobles  nor  of  the  church,  were  abso- 
lutely slaves,  or  bound  down  by  feudal  regulations  and  customs 


212  FRANCE* 

which  amounted  to  slavery.  They  cultivated  the  land,  and  were 
held  to  serve  in  war,  and  the  character  of  their  servitude  was 
more  or  less  oppressive,  according-  to  the  disposition  of  their 
superiors.  There  are  supposed  to  have  been  some  free  propri- 
etors of  estates,  but  it  is  very  uncertain  what  the  number  of  these 
was,  or  what  their  rights  or  privileges  were.  The  dominion 
of  the  church  was  extended  to  all  classes  of  laymen;  but  the 
spirit  of  religion  had  no  effect  to  restrain  the  indulgence  of  the 
most  brutal  passions  or  the  most  barbarous  crimes.  It  may  be 
presumed  that  not  one  person  in  a  thousand,  except  among  the 
clergy,  could  write  or  read.  This  was  no  less  true  of  the 
nobles  than  of  the  people  in  general ;  even  the  kings,  in  some 
instances,  were  destitute  of  all  literary  instruction. 

There  are  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  state  of  the  me- 
chanic arts.  Whatever  this  may  have  been,  it  was  probably 
limited  to  the  weapons  of  war  and  the  implements  of  hus- 
bandry, and  the  wants  of  domestic  life.  History  has  devoted 
itself  to  an  account  of  the  kings,  and  of  the  transactions  in 
which  they  were  engaged ;  and,  in  this  way,  distinguished 
individuals,  among  nobles  and  prelates,  are  brought  to  view, 
and  an  account  of  wars  is  thus  obtained ;  but  the  real  charac- 
ter of  society  as  it  existed  among  all  below  these  high  grades, 
is  conjectured  rather  than  known.  It  would  be  an  unprofita- 
ble labor  to  enter  into  the  personal  history  of  the  successive 
kings  of  these  five  centuries.  Many  of  them  were  so  insig- 
nificant, that  their  names  would  not  have  survived  the  genera- 
tion in  which  they  lived,  if  the  accident  of  birth  had  not  placed 
them  on  a  throne.  From  the  brief  notice  to  be  taken  of  these 
persons,  it  will  be  inferred,  that  human  life  cannot  be  more 
miserable  than  it  was  in  France  during  the  time  we  have  now 
to  review. 

Discouraging  as  these  historical  elements  may  be,  we  are 
to  find,  nevertheless,  in  these  five  centuries,  the  causes  of  the 
great  changes  which  have  since  taken  place  in  the  political, 
social,  and  religious  condition  of  society.  The  labor  which  is 
now  intended,  is  to  search  out  these  causes,  and  to  discern 
how  that  power  has  been  exerted,  which  the  Author  of  our 
being  bestowed  to  improve  and  benefit  the  human  race.  It 
will  be  seen  that  discoveries  and  inventions  which  have  proved 
to  be  most  useful  and  permanent,  were  the  product  of  solitary 
genius  or  of  accident,  and  that  those  who  have  thus  benefited 
the  world  did  not  even  imagine  the  consequences  of  their  acts. 
It  will  be  seen,  also,  that  the  efforts  of  the  wisest  and  most 
powerful  among  men,  have  often  led  to  results  of  the  most 


frA&ce.  213 

#. 

mischievous  character.     And,  again,  that  some  of  the  ablest 

conductors  of  human  affairs,  who  intended  nothing  but  their 
own  aggrandizement,  undesignedly  introduced  important  meli- 
orations of  society.  Such  facts  humble  the  pride  of  man, 
while  they  raise  his  thoughts  to  the  great  Disposer  of  events, 
who  brings  forth,  in  his  own  time  and  manner,  in  the  long 
series  of  ages,  his  own  beneficent  purposes. 

Although  it  is  not  intended  to  devote  any  labor  to  the  per- 
sonal history  of  the  kings  of  France  during  these  five  centu- 
ries, nor  to  enter  into  a  detail  of  the  wars  in  which  they  were 
engaged,  yet  it  is  necessary  to  state  the  course  of  succession. 
The  following  table  has  been  prepared  as  a  convenient  illus- 
tration of  the  time  in  which  those  events  happened,  which  are 
material  to  the  present,  purpose. 

The  principal  events  in  these  five  centuries  are, — 1.  The 
gradual  extension  of  the  royal  dominion,  and  the  depression  of 
the  feudal  nobility,  whereby  the  nobles  became  subjects,  and 
the  kings  absolute  monarchs.  2.  The  struggle  for  power  on 
the  part  of  the  Roman  church,  and  the  resistance  of  the  kings 
of  France.  3.  The  decline  of  the  feudal  system,  and  the 
nominal  abolition  of  personal  slavery.  4.  The  crusades.  5. 
The  wars  of  conquest  by  the  English  kings  against  France. 
6.  The  origin  and  effect  of  chivalry.  7.  The  civil  wars  of 
France.  8.  The  revival  of  learning  and  of  commerce.  9. 
The  distress  and  misery  experienced  throughout  these  ages, 
from  some  of  the  above-mentioned  causes,  and  from  others 
which  will  come  to  view  in  their  proper  places. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

The  succession  of  French  kings — Papal  poiver — Truce  of  God — Hilde- 
brand,  Gregory  VII. — Crusades. 

The  first  race  of  kings  in  France  were  called  the  Merovin- 
gians, and  reigned  from  420  to  752. 

The  second  race  was  called  Carlovingians,  and  reigned  from 
752,  to  987. 

The  third  race  was  called  Capetians,  and  reigned  from  987, 
to  1589,  when  Henry  IV.  became  king. 

Hugh  Capet  was  the  first  of  the  Capetians      -       987  to   996 
Robert,  son  of  former     -         -         -         -         -       996  "   1031 

Married  1.  Bertha.     2.  Constantia  of  Provence. 


m 


214  FRANCE. 

Henry  I.  (son)       -         -         -         -         -         -     1031  to  1060 

Married  Anne  of  Russia. 
Philip  I  (son)  crowned  at  eight  years  of  age;     1060  "   1108 

Married  and  repudiated,  Bertha  of  Holland. 
2.    Bertrade  of  Anjou. 
LouisVL  (son)  the  Fat;         ....     1108  "  1137 

Married  Adelaide  of  Savoy. 
Louis  VII.  (son) 1137  "   1180 

Married  Eleonora  of  Gayenne.   2.  Constance  of  Castile. 
Philip  II  (son)  Augustus      -         .         -         -1180"   1223 

Married  Isabel  of  Hainault.     2.  Ingerberge  of  Denmark. 
Louis  VIII.  (son)  the  Lion    -  -         -     1223  "  1226 

Married  Blanche  of  Castile. 
Louis  IX.  (son)  saint;  age  of  twelve  years      -     1226  "   1270 

Married  Margaret  of  Provence. 
Philip  III.  (son)  the  Hardy  -         -         -     1270  "  1285 

1.   Isabel  of  Arragon.     2.  Mary  of  Brabant. 
Philip  IV.  (son)  the  Fair      ....     1285  "  1314 

Married  Jane,  heiress  of  Navarre. 
Louis  X.  (son)  the  stubborn,  (hutin.)       -         -     1314  "  1316 

Married  Margaret  of  Burgundy.    2.  Clementia  of  Hungary. 
Philip  V,  brother  of  former:  the"  Long  -     1316  "  1322 

Married  Jane  of  Burgundy,  heiress  of  Artois. 
Charles  I V,  brother  of  former       -         -         -     1322  "  1328 

Married  thrice ;  no  issue. 
Philip  VI.,  grandson  of  Philip  III.  (branch  of 

Valois.)      ......     1328  "  1350 

Married  Jane  of  Burgundy.  2.  Blanche  of  Navarre. 
John,  son  of  former 1350  "   1364 

Married  Bonne  of  Luxemburgh.     2.  Jane  of  Boulogne. 
Charles  V.,  the  Wise;  son  of  former       -         -     1364  "  1380 

Married  Jane  of  Bourbon. 
Charles  VI,  son  of  former      -  1380"   1422 

Married  Isabel  of  Bavaria. 
Charles  VII,  son  of  former  -         -         -  '      -     1422  "   1461 

Married  Mary  of  Anjou. 
Louis  XL,  son  of  former        ....     1461  "   1483 

Married  Mary  of  Scotland.   2.  Charlotte  of  Savoy. 
Charles  VIII,  son  of  former  -         -         -     1483  '*  1498 

Married  Anne,  heiress  of  Brittany.     No  issue. 
Louis  XII,  great-grandson  of  Charles  V.    (Or- 
leans.)     .......     1498  "   1515 

Married  Anne  of  Brittany.  2.  Mary  of  England. 


FRANCE.  215 

The  collateral  branches  of  the  royal  family  who  appear  in 
French  history,  are  these : — 

The  house  of  Valois,  sprang  from  Charles  of  Valois,  who 
was  a  son  of  Philip  III.  He  married  Margaret  of  Anjou ; 
2.  Catherine  of  Courtenay,  empress  of  Constantinople  ;  3.  Ma- 
tilda of  Chatillon;  and  died  in  1325.  He  was  father  of 
Philip  VI. 

The  house  of  Alengon,  sprang  from  Charles,  duke  of  Alen- 
con,  brother  of  Philip  VI.     Killed  in  1346. 

The  house  of  Anjou,  sprang  from  Louis,  duke  of  Anjou, 
brother  of  Charles  V.     Died  in  1384. 

The  house  of  Burgundy  sprang  from  Philip  the  Bold,  duke 
of  Burgundy,  who  was  also  brother  of  Charles  V.  Died  in 
1404.     John,  Sanspeur,  (the  Fearless)  was  son  of  this  Philip. 

The  house  of  Orleans,  sprang  from  Louis,  duke  of  Orleans, 
brother  of  Charles  VI.  Killed  in  1407.  His  second  son  was 
John,  duke  of  Angoulemc,  from  whom  the  house  of  that  name 
is  descended.  The  famous  warrior  Dunois  was  brother  of 
this  duke.     Died  in  1468. 

The  house  of  Bourbon,  descended  from  a  son  of  saint  Louis 
IX.;  in  which  line  is  found  Henry  IV.  (in  1600)  surnamed 
the  Great,  son  of  Anthony,  king  of  Navarre.  He  was  duke 
of  Bourbon;  and,  in  right  of  Jane  his  wife,  (heiress,)  was  king 
of  Navarre. 

The  house  of  Burgundy,  above  mentioned,  is  not  the  ancient 
house  of  that  name;  successors  of  the  kings  of  Burgundy.  In 
1361,  John,  king  of  France,  seized  the  remaining  territories  of 
that  ancient  house,  and  gave  them  to  his  son,  Philip  the  Bold, 
duke  of  Burgundy,  who  founded  the  second  house  of  that 
name,  and  from  whom  descended  Charles  the  Rash,  already 
mentioned  in  sketches  of  the  Netherlands. 

The  house  of  Ariois,  sprang  from  the  fifth  son  of  Louis 
VIII. 

All  these  princely  houses,  and  some  others,  of  less  impor- 
tance, had  territories  in  France,  over  which  they  were  sove- 
reigns, but  owing  allegiance  to  the  crown. 

Besides  these  territories,  there  were,  in  France,  the  great 
ducal  territories  of  Normandy,  Brittany,  Guienne,  and  some 
others,  over  which  the  kings  of  France  claimed  to  be  feudal 
lords. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  table  of  succession,  that  Robert,  Hen- 
ry I.,  and  Philip  I.  occupied  the  throne  of  France,  during 
the  first  of  these  five  centuries.  The  whole  of  this  period  was 
one  unvaried  scene  of  commotion  between  these  kings  and  the 


216  FRANCE. 

nobles,  or  between  the  nobles  themselves.  Their  wars  were 
excessively  barbarous,  carrying,  in  their  course,  pillage  and 
destruction.  It  is  probable  that  the  universal  misery  of  society 
suggested  to  the  Roman  church  to  interpose  its  spiritual 
authority.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  motive,  it  is  certain, 
that  in  this  age  began  that  tremendous  power  which  the  popes 
of  Rome  exercised  over  the  Christian  world.  The  prelates  of 
France  united  to  strengthen  and  extend  this  power,  to  protect 
themselves  and  their  estates  against  the  rapacity  of  the  French 
nobles.  The  strength  of  this  power  is  seen  in  the  assumption 
of  the  pope  to  excommunicate  Robert,  for  the  reason  that  he  had 
married  his  cousin,  Bertha.  Robert  is  famed  for  his  piety, 
and  for  his  hymns,  and  his  devotion  to  the  church.  But  he 
wTould  not  obey  this  mandate  of  the  pope.  He  suffered  the 
miseries  of  an  excommunicated  person,  deprived  of  all  authori- 
ty and  social  intercourse ;  and  was  regarded  during  three  years, 
as  a  contaminated  wretch,  whom  no  one  could  obey,  or  ap- 
proach. He  then  yielded,  and  repudiated  his  wife.  The  power 
of  excommunication  was  no  more  than  that  of  all  societies  to 
expel  unworthy  members.  In  the  hands  of  the  popes  it  rose  to 
a  tremendous  authority,  exercised  by  no  physical  force,  but  a 
mere  verbal  denunciation,  which  separated  the  victim  from  all 
temporal  rights,  and  even  denied  him  burial,  if  he  died  under 
the  anathema. 

A  measure  of  the  same  authority,  arose  at  this  time,  of 
different  and  even  salutary  character,  suggested  by  the  bellige- 
rent disposition  of  the  nobles,  and  its  consequent  miseries. 
This  was  called  the  truce  of  God.  It  forbade  all  warfare  from 
sunset  on  Thursday,  until  sunrise  on  Monday.  These  days 
were  consecrated  to  peace,  because  the  Savior  of  the  world 
was '  crucified  on  Friday,  was  in  the  tomb  on  Saturday,  and 
rose  from  the  dead  on  Sunday.  It  was  extended  on  all  days 
to  certain  privileged  places,  as  churches,  convents,  hospitals, 
church-yards,  and  at  length  to  clergymen,  peasants  in  the 
fields,  and  all  defenceless  persons.  In  the  course  of  the 
eleventh  century  this  measure  was  discussed  in  councils,  and 
gradually  introduced  in  various  parts  of  Europe,  having  re- 
ceived the  sanction  of  these  councils.  It  is  possible  that 
comparison  of  opinions  in  these  meetings  was  favorable  to 
that  spirit  which  afterwards  manifested  itself  under  the  name 
of  chivalry,  and  which  tended  to  meliorate  the  condition  of 
society,  especially  in  France.  It  is  possible,  also,  that  the 
perception  of  the  general  wretchedness  of  the  times  led  to 
furthering  the  views  of  the  church,  in  imposing  restraints  on 


FRANCE.  217 

the  barbarous  passions  of  the  nobles.  But  it  was  not  perceiv- 
ed, that,  in  furthering  these  views,  a  power  was  conceded  to  the 
church,  before  which  all  the  Christian  states  of  Europe  were 
soon  made  to  tremble.  When  the  effect  of  this  power  was 
afterwards  perceived,  several  monarchs  (as  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  show)  attempted  to  resist  it ;  but  it  went  on  to 
strengthen  itself,  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
became  sufficiently  oppressive  to  cause  its  own  overthrow. 

The  civil  as  well  as  religious  supremacy  of  the  popes  of 
Rome,  was  the  conception  of  Hildebrand,  who  directed  the 
councils  of  several  popes  before  he  attained  to  the  papal  chair, 
in  the  year  1073.  The  place  of  this  remarkable  man's  birth 
is  unknown,  but  he  is  supposed  to  have  been  an  Italian.  He 
is  known  to  have  been  at  Rome  when  a  child,  and  to  have 
gone,  in  his  youth,  to  France ;  and  to  have  returned  to  Rome 
in  1045.  He  was  taken  into  favor  by  Leo  IX.  From  this 
time  till  he  became  pope  himself,  he  is  supposed  to  have  had  a 
decisive  influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  church.  He  had  three 
purposes:  1.  To  submit  all  ecclesiastical  authority  to  the  will 
of  the  pope.  2.  To  make  the  church  entirely  independent  of 
all  temporal  power.  3.  To  submit  all  temporal  power  to  the 
authority  of  the  church.  In  short,  he  sought  to  establish  a 
government  in  which  the  pope,  as  the  representative  of  God, 
could  exercise  an  absolute  dominion  in  the  earth.  The  con- 
ception of  this  design  discloses  the  genius  of  the  man;  and  this 
he  sustained  with  unyielding  resolution,  and  an  erudition  (as 
known  from  his  letters)  unsurpassed  in  that  age. 

It  was  Hildebrand,  under  the  name  of  Gregory  VII.,  who 
interdicted  the  marriage  of  priests,  to  sever  them  from  all 
family  ties,  and  bind  them  to  the  church.  He  forbade  all 
bishops,  and  inferior  clergy,  to  receive  investiture,  (or  the  sym- 
bols of  clerical  authority,)  from  any  temporal  prince.  He 
prohibited  simony,  or  the  traffic  in  church  offices  and  holy 
things,  which  was  universally  prevalent.  (This  term  is  de- 
rived from  one  Simon,  who  is  mentioned  in  the  eighth  chapter 
of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.) 

The  attempts  of  the  church  to  control  the  love  of  war,  are 
supposed  to  have  been  so  successful,  that,  in  the  last  half  of  the 
eleventh  century,  some  other  mode  of  satisfying  the  demands 
for  action  were  required.  There  were  sins  enough  to  be 
atoned  for,  and  one  way  of  effecting  this  object  was  to  engage 
in  pilgrimages.  Another  mode  of  occupation  was  to  exhibit, 
in  tournaments,  a  semblance  of  war.  Both  these  objects  tend- 
ed to  bring  out  the  spirit  of  chivalry.  Pilgrimages  to  Rome 
J9 


I 


218  FRANCE. 

had  long  been  practised.  Robert  of  France  was  a  pilgrim  to 
Rome.  During  his  devotions  there,  he  placed  a  sealed  paper 
on  the  altar.  A  princely  gift  was  expected,  but  it  proved  to  be 
only  one  of  his  own  hymns.  Pilgrimages  were  undertaken 
about  the  middle  of  this  century,  to  the  holy  land,  by  thousands. 
Few  survived  and  returned  to  recount  their  disasters,  and  the 
cruelties  of  the  infidels,  who  possessed  the  site  of  the  holy 
sepulchre.  Among  the  pilgrims  who  returned  about  the  year 
1094,  was  Peter  the  Hermit.  He  brought  a  letter  to  pope 
Urban  II.  from  the  patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  proposing  that  the 
Christians  of  the  west  should  appear  in  arms  in  Palestine,  and 
make  themselves  masters  of  the  Holy  Land.  "The  proposal 
was  welcome,  and  was  immediately  connected  with  the  great 
purposes  inspired  by  Gregory  VII.  As  early  as  1074,  the 
Greek  emperor,  Michael,  besought  Gregory  to  rouse  the 
Christians  of  the  west  to  defend  those  of  similar  faith  against 
the  increasing  power  of  the  Turks.  All  Asia  Minor  had  been 
conquered,  and  the  Bosphorus  only  arrested  their  progress  to 
Constantinople.  The  far-sighted  Gregory  perceived,  in  this 
event,  the  means  of  extending  his  own  power.  In  that  year 
he  sent  a  circular  letter  through  the  Christian  states,  urging 
the  duty  of  taking  arms  against  the  Saracens.  A  war  against 
infidels,  a  war  to  recover  the  land  where  the  Savior  of  the 
world  was  crucified  and  buried,  was  necessarily  a  war  of  the 
supreme  head  of  the  Christian  church.  Its  effect  was  a  subju- 
gation of  the  military  power  of  Christian  Europe  to  papal 
ambition.  The  zealous  Peter  exhibited  himself  in  various 
places,  and  every  where  represented,  with  moving  eloquence, 
the  perils  and  sufferings  of  devout  pilgrims,  and  the  duty  of  all 
Christians  to  arm,  and  rescue  the  object  of  veneration. 

When  Peter  had  sufficiently  inflamed  the  zeal  of  all  who 
heard  him,  pope  Urban  II.  convened  an  assembly  at  Cler- 
mont, in  France,  two  hundred  and  ten  miles  south  from  Paris. 
He  attended  this  assembly,  consisting  of  archbishops,  bishops, 
nitred  abbots,  and  hundreds  of  inferior  clergy,  and  a  great 
concourse  of  laymen,  comprising  princes,  nobles,  and  warriors. 
Peter  addressed  this  assembly,  and  prepared  the  way  for  the 
eloquence  of  the  pontiff  who  described  the  reproach  which 
had  fallen  on  the  whole  Christian  world,  in  permitting  the 
infidels  of  the  East  to  profane  the  holy  sepulchre.  He  in- 
veighed against  the  enormity  of  preventing  the  approach  of 
the  devout,  and  the  expiation  of  sins,  by  rendering  there,  sup- 
plications for  pardon.  An  enthusiasm  seized  the  whole  assem- 
bly ;  most  of  them  "assumed  the  cross,"  that  is,  solemnly  bound 
themselves  to  engage  in  this  holy  warfare.     (1095.) 


FRANCE.  219 

This  scene  discloses  the  state  of  the  human  mind  in  this 
age  of  the  world.  The  persons  assembled  at  Clermont  in 
1095,  were  among  the  best  informed  in  Europe.  They  were 
ignorant  neither  of  the  distance  to  Jerusalem,  nor  of  the  perils 
of  going  there,  nor  of  the  dangers  which  awaited  them  from 
the  combined  forces  of  the  East,  if  they  should  surmount  the 
difficulties  of  the  way.  They  could  not  carry  with  them  their 
means  of  subsistence.  From  the  confines  of  Germany,  the 
route  was  through  countries  uninhabited,  or  hostile,  at  least, 
until  they  reached  Constantinople.  Beyond  that  city  were 
enemies  at  every  step.  But  they  were  inspired  with  the  charms 
of  adventure;  they  were  sure  of  occupation  ;  and  occupation 
and  adventure  were  to  be  devoted,  under  the  sanction  of  the 
head  of  the  church,  to  religion.  Some  worldly  inducements 
had  their  full  influence,  not  unlike  those  which  animated  the 
followers  of  Mohammed.  The  badge  of  the  holy  war  was  a 
red  cross  worn  on  the  dress,  and  it  soon  became  infamous  not 
to  assume  it.  These  warriors  were  exempted  from  prosecution 
for  debt,  while  in  this  holy  service — from  interest  on  debts,  and 
from  all  taxes.  Vassals  were  empowered  to  alien  their  lands 
without  the  consent  of  their  lords.  No  one  was  amenable  to 
civil,  but  only  to  ecclesiastical  courts.  All  who  took  the  cross, 
and  all  that  belonged  to  them,  were  put  under  the  protection 
of  St.  Peter.  All  sins  were  remitted,  and  the  gates  of  heaven 
thrown  open.  These  facts  abundantly  prove  that  the  crusades 
were  promoted  by  the  popes  to  establish  their  temporal  power. 

A  year  was  allowed  to  sell  or  pledge  estates,  to  furnish 
means  for  the  expedition.  But  the  zealous  Peter  could  not 
wait  so  long.  He  departed  at  the  head  of  a  multitude  of  monks 
and  miserable  rabble,  who  had  no  preparation  to  make,  and 
who  imagined  that  none  was  necessary  but  their  own  zeal. 
This  numerous  collection  found  their  way  along  the  Danube, 
and  passed  the  Bosphorus  at  Constantinople.  In  Asia  Minor, 
disease,  famine  and  the  sword  put  an  end  to  their  adventure, 
and  to  themselves. 

Among  the  persons  who  assembled  at  Clermont  were  some 
of  the  first  men  of  that  age.  The  count  of  Toulouse,  brother 
of  Philip  I. ;  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  (born  in  Brabant,  Nether- 
lands;) duke  of  Lorraine;  his  brothers;  Robert,  duke  of  Nor- 
mandy, son  of  William  the  Conqueror ;  and  many  others  of 
like  eminence.  All  of  them  assumed  the  cross.  One  reads, 
with  some  doubt,  even  on  the  credit  of  respectable  historians 
that  in  the  year  1096,  there  were  assembled  in  the  plains  of 
Bythinia,  in  Asia  Minor,  one  hundred  miles  east  of  Constanti- 


220  FRANCE. 

nople,  and  about  fifty  miles  south  of  the  Black  Sea,  one  hun- 
dred thousand  mounted  warriors,  covered  with  coats  of  armor, 
and  six  hundred  thousand  men  capable  of  bearing  arms,  and 
an  immense  number  of  monks,  women,  and  children,  on  their 
way  to  Jerusalem.  In  July,  1099,  Jerusalem  was  taken. 
Godfrey  de  Bouillon  (or  Baldwin)  was  offered  a  crown.  But 
this  man,  who  seems  to  have  been  alike  eminent  for  his  valor 
and  his  virtues,  answered,  that  he  would  not  wear  a  golden 
crown  where  his  Saviour  wore  one  of  thorns.  This  distin- 
guished person  died  in  July,  1100,  at  Jerusalem,  one  year 
after  the  capture  of  that  city,  and  was  buried  on  Mount  Cal- 
vary. In  the  celebrated  epic  poem,  Tasso's  Jerusalem,  this 
pattern  of  valor,  piety,  and  princely  virtue,  is  justly  honored. 
As  the  dominion  of  the  Roman  church  and  the  effect  of  the 
crusades  will  come  into  view  in  another  place,  these  subjects 
are  no  further  pursued  in  this  connexion. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Louis  the  Fat — Third  Estate — Crusades — Louis  VII. — Divorce  of  his 
Queen,  Eleonora — Her  Marriage  with  Henry  11.  of  England—  Crusade 
of  Richard  and  others —  Troubadours — Persecution  of  the  Albigenses — 
Origin  of  the  Inquisition. 

The  successor  of  Philip  I.  was  his  son,  Louis  VI.,  sur- 
named  the  Fat.  It  is  remarkable  that  history  has  not  given 
to  this  king  some  cognomen  more  descriptive  of  his  character. 
He  was  the  first  of  the  Capetians  who  exercised  the  royal 
power  with  any  credit  to  himself  or  with  any  utility  to  France. 
The  royal  dominions,  at  the  time  of  his  accession  to  the  throne, 
(1108,)  were  very  limited.  He  could  see  from  his  capital 
(Paris)  the  castles  of  his  vassals,  who  were  sovereign  and 
independent  of  him,  excepting  in  the  acknowledgment  of  his 
feudal  lordship.  These  noble  vassals,  and  the  bishops  within 
their  territories,  were  in  frequent  conflict.  Louis  took  part 
with  the  bishops,  and  succeeded,  by  force  of  arms,  to  reduce 
the  nobles  around  Paris,  and  even  as  far  as  Amiens,  seventy- 
five  miles  north  of  Paris.  The  like  success  attended  his 
efforts  in  the  south-west,  as  far  as  the  city  of  Orleans,  about 
the  same  distance  from  Paris.  The  incident  of  a  marriage 
extended  the  royal  dominion  still  further  in  the  south-west. 


FRANCE.  221 

The  count  of  Poictiers,  who  was  sovereign  of  Poitou  and  of 
Guierme,  (two  large  provinces  on  the  west  coast  of  France, 
the  latter  on  the  Garonne,)  was  about  to  engage  in  the  cru- 
sades, and  offered  his  daughter  to  the  son  of  Louis.  The 
death  of  the  count,  within  the  following  year,  transferred  these 
provinces  to  the  royal  house.  In  the  course  of  his  reign, 
Louis  also  annexed  the  province  of  Bourbon,  and  that  of  Au- 
vergne  to  his  dominions.  The  former  adjoins  the  latter  on 
the  north,  and  the  latter  is  two  hundred  miles  south  of  Paris. 
These  acquisitions  were  very  important  in  enlarging  the  royal 
authority,  and  in  diminishing  the  power  of  the  nobles.  South 
of  Auvergne,  on  the  Mediterranean,  there  were,  at  this  time, 
several  provinces,  which  were  entirely  independent.  In  the 
north-west,  on  the  Atlantic  and  the  English  channel,  were  the 
two  great  adjoining  provinces,  Brittany  and  Normandy.  The 
former,  held  by  the  duchess  of  Brittany,  acknowledged  the 
feudal  vassalage  to  the  king,  while  Normandy,  held  by  Henry 
I.  of  England,  claimed  to  be  independent.  In  the  time  of 
Louis  and  Henry  commenced  the  warfare  which  was  after- 
wards so  ruinous  to  France. 

Louis  was  a  benefactor  to  his  country  in  acquiring  domin- 
ion over  so  many  provinces,  as  he  thereby  diminished  the  evils 
arising  from  the  exercise  of  sovereignty  by  the  nobles.  But 
this  king  is  entitled  to  far  greater  commendation  from  design, 
or  he  was  unintentionally  the  cause,  of  a  great  and  important 
change  in  the  social  condition  of  France.  At  this  time  there 
were  several  large  cities  and  towns  within  his  dominions,  to 
which  he  granted  charters,  with  various  privileges.  Among 
these  was  the  right  of  self-government  by  voluntary  election. 
Thus,  Louis  may  be  justly  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the 
third  estate  ;  or  as  having  been  the  first  to  recognize  popular 
rights* 

Louis  VII.  (1137 — 1180)  was  unable  to  follow  in  the  foot- 
steps of  his  father.  He  attempted  the  conquest  of  Champagne, 
a  province  which  lies  next  eastwardly  of  that  of  which  Paris 
is  the  capital,  and  between  that  and  Lorraine.  The  ancient 
city  of  Troyes  is  in  Champagne.  In  besieging  a  castle,  Louis 
sat  fire  to  it,  and  the  fire  extended  to  a  church  in  which  thir- 
teen hundred  men,  women,  and  children  were  burnt.  This 
melancholy  spectacle,  together  with  the  urgent  solicitations  of 
the  pope,  influenced  the  king  to  assume  the  cross.     He  depart- 

*  Tiers  etat,  or  third  estate ;  popular  representation  in  legislative 
assemblies. 

19* 


222 


FRANCE. 


ed  on  this  expedition  in  1147,  and  this  is  known  as  the  second 
crusade.  Another  account  of  Louis's  resolve  to  engage  in 
this  crusade  is,  that  it  was  exacted  of  him  as  an  atonement  for 
the  sacrilege  of  having  burnt  the  church. 

Half  a  century  had  elapsed  since  the  first  crusade  was  un- 
dertaken by  Godfrey  de  Bouillon  and  others.  The  new  king- 
dom of  Jerusalem  had  sustained  itself,  and  had  extended  its 
dominions  towards  the  east  as  far  as  Edessa.  This  city  was 
situated  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  east  from  Antioch, 
(which  is  «t  the  north-east  corner  of  the  Mediterranean,)  and 
nearly  four  hundred  miles  north-east  from  Jerusalem,  and  a 
few  miles  beyond  the  Euphrates.  It  was  regarded  as  the 
bulwark  of  the  Christians,  on  that  part  of  their  kingdom.  In 
the  year  1142,  this  city  was  taken  by  the  infidels,  and  their 
success,  in  this  instance,  led  to  the  apprehension  that  their 
conquests  might  extend  even  to  Jerusalem.  This  event  spread 
consternation  in  Europe,  and  pope  Eugene  III.  besought  the 
Christian  states  of  the  west  to  engage  in  a  new  crusade.  A 
person,  celebrated  under  the  name  of  the  Abbe  de  Clairvaux, 
(Bernard,)  seconded  the  zeal  of  the  pope  with  an  eloquence 
more  moving,  even,  than  that  of  Peter  the  Hermit. 

In  1147,  Louis  VII.  and  the  emperor  of  Germany,  Conrad 
III.,  engaged  in  this  adventure.  This  was  the  first  example 
of  a  crusade  undertaken,  personally,  by  crowned  heads.  Con- 
rad departed  first,  and  took  the  route  of  the  Danube,  and  was 
soon  followed  by  Louis.  The  former  took,  for  guides,  at 
Constantinople,  some  Greeks,  to  conduct  them  through  Asia 
Minor.  At  this  time,  Massoud  was  sultan  of  Iconia,  so  called 
from  his  seat  of  empire  at  Iconia,  a  little  south  of  the  middle 
of  Asia  Minor.  These  Greeks  are  supposed  to  have  misled 
Conrad,  intentionally.  The  sultan  attacked  and  defeated  his 
army.  The  remnant  fell  back  to  join  Louis,  who,  taking 
another  route  along  the  sea-coast,  escaped  a  similar  defeat. 
But,  the  disasters  which  he  encountered  so  diminished  his 
force,  that  he  did  not  attempt  to  lead  his  army  into  Syria.  The 
two  armies  are  said  to  have  amounted  to  two  hundred  thou- 
sand, comprising  the  distinguished  warriors  of  that  day.  Very 
few  of  the  whole  number  ever  returned ;  among  the  few  was 
Conrad.  Louis,  abandoning  the  character  of  a  warrior,  stole  to 
Jerusalem  as  a  pilgrim,  with  an  hundred  followers.  Here  he 
remained,  inactive,  till  1149,  ashamed,  it  is  said,  to  return.  It 
has  been  before  mentioned  that  he  had  married  the  heiress  of  the 
count  of  Poitiers,  Eleonora,  who  accompanied  him  to  the  east. 
This  lady  makes  a  conspicuous  figure  in  history.     Louis 


FRANCE.  223 

caused  her  to  be  divorced  from  him,  on  his  return.  Two  causes 
are  assigned  :  her  disregard  of  the  duties  of  a  wife,  and  her  dis- 
gust at  the  pusillanimity  of  her  husband.  .Whatever  the  truth 
may  be,  Louis  made  no  provision  to  retain  Poitou  and  Guienne, 
which  he  acquired  by  her.  These  provinces  returned  to  her, 
on  the  divorce.  She  immediately  married  Henry  II.  of  Eng- 
land, and  thereby  transferred  her  provinces  to  the  English 
crown.  This  event,  connected  with  the  possession  of  Nor- 
mandy by  English  monarchs,  and  some  marriages,  and  conse- 
quent claims  of  heirship,  led  to  bloody  conflicts,  which  trained 
along  through  centuries,  between  England  and  France. 

Louis  VII.,  though  his  life  was  prolonged  for  many  years, 
had  no  other  merit  than  having  preserved,  unimpaired,  the 
acquisitions  of  his  father.  He  died,  leaving  a  son  Philip,  who 
became  king  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  in  1180. 

Philip  II.,  surnamed  Augustus,  and  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion, 
son  of  Henry  II.  of  England,  were  contemporaries.  Philip 
took  part  in  the  quarrels  which  arose  between  Henry  and  his 
undutiful  sons.  These  events  are  of  little  importance.  His 
attention  was  soon  attracted  to  the  holy  land.  New  and  excit- 
ing events  had  occurred  there.  Egypt  had  long  been  possess- 
ed by  Mahommedans,  who  were  known  as  the  Fatimites.  In 
1171,  that  dynasty  was  overthrown  by  the  Turks,  and  the 
celebrated  Saladin  (so  familiarly  known  to  all  readers  of  the 
Talisman,  by  Walter  Scott)  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  sultan 
of  that  country.  In  1187  he  took  Jerusalem.  The  two  aspir- 
ing young  monarchs,  Philip  of  France  and  Richard  (Coeur  de 
Lion)  of  England,  resolved  to  devote  themselves  to  the  recov- 
ery of  the  holy  land.  Frederick,  surnamed  Barbarossa,  (red 
beard,)  emperor  of  Germany,  joined  in  this  expedition.  The 
agency  of  the  popes  is  still  seen  in  promoting  the  crusades. 
It  was  the  dying  injunction  of  Gregory  VIII.,  (in  1189,)  and 
repeated  by  his  successor,  Clement  III.,  that  the  holy  sepulchre 
should  be  rescued  from  the  infidels.  The  three  greatest  mon- 
archs of  Europe  made  preparations  commensurate  with  their 
rank.  Europe  had  not  seen,  for  centuries,  so  formidable  a 
host,  whether  in  numbers  or  military  accomplishment.  This 
was  the  age  of  true  chivalry.  The  emperor  departed  first,  by 
the  way  of  Constantinople,  in  1190.  He  reached  the  Cydnus 
river,  which  flows  by  ancient  Tarsus,  (near  the  north-east 
corner  of  the  Mediterranean,)  and,  having  bathed  in  its  cold 
waters,  lost  his  life,  (June  10,  1190.)  A  small  portion  of  his 
army  reached  Palestine,  under  the  command  of  his  son,  Fred^ 
eric. 


224  FRANCE. 

For  the  first  time,  Palestine  was  approached  by  sea.  Philip 
and  Richard  embarked  their  armies,  Philip  at  Genoa,  Richard 
in  the  south  of  France,  and  both  wintered  in  Sicily,  and  depart- 
ed thence  in  the  spring  of  1191.  Richard  conquered  the  Isle 
of  Cyprus,  (near  the  north-east  corner  of  the  Mediterranean,) 
in  his  way,  which  he  gave  to  Guy  de  Lusignan,  with  the  title 
of  king  of  Jerusalem.  Discord  soon  arose  between  the  two 
kings,  and  Philip  returned  the  same  summer  to  France.  But 
before  this  event,  they  had  taken  St.  Jean  d' Acre,  or  Ptolemais, 
a  seaport  north  of  Jerusalem,  and  south  of  ancient  Tyre.  This 
was  the  stronghold  of  the  crusaders,  and  the  last  which  was 
taken  from  them,  about  a  century  afterwards. 

Philip  Augustus,  having  returned  in  1 191,  he  devoted  the  rest 
of  his  life,  which  continued  till  1223,  to  enlarging  his  territo- 
ries within  the  limits  of  modern  France.  This  he  accomplish- 
ed, partly  by  force  of  arms — partly  by  negotiation,  and  by 
means  which  would  be  regarded,  by  moralists,  as  criminal. 
The  details  of  these  measures  are  not  instructive ;  it  is  the  re- 
sult, only,  the  consolidation  and  aggrandisement  of  the  mon- 
archy of  France,  that  is  material  to  the  present  purpose.  Those 
who  would  be  informed  as  to  the  details  of  Philip's  operations, 
will  find  them  in  Hallam's  thorough  research,  entitled  History 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  chapter  1.  At  the  close  of  Philip's  life 
he  had  annexed  to  his  dominions,  in  various  modes,  Normandy, 
Maine,  and  Anjou.  The  like  attempt  was  made  on  Poitou  and 
Guienne;  but  in  this  Philip  was  not  successful. 

We  have  now  to  notice  some  deplorable  transactions  which 
occurred  in  the  south  of  France,  during  the  reign  of  Philip, 
in  which,  however,  he  did  not  take  a  part. 

The  country  called  Languedoc,  and  Province,  was  situated 
in  the  south  of  France,  along  the  north  coast  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, and  had,  within  its  limits,  several  large  towns,  and  opu- 
lent cities.  Languedoc  was  bounded  west,  by  Gascony,  north, 
by  Gluerci  and  Rouergue,  parts  of  Guienne ;  and  near  this 
boundary  was  the  city  of  Albi.  Languedoc  extended  up  north- 
wardly, between  Rouergue  and  Auvergne  on  the  west,  and 
the  Rhone  on  the  east,  to  the  territory  of  Lyons.  On  the  east 
side  of  the  Rhone,  and  bounding  on  the  Mediterranean,  was 
Provence,  and  north  of  it  was  Dauphine,  and  both  these  prov- 
inces were  bounded  on  the  east  by  Alpine  mountains,  which 
separate  them  from  Italy.  In  Languedoc  were  the  cities  of 
Narbonne,  Bexiers,  Montpelier,  the  ancient  Nismes,  (so  much 
adorned  in  the  time  of  the  Romans,)  Viviers,  and  several  oth- 
ers, of  less  importance.     In  Provence  were  Aries,  Aix,  and 


FRANCE.  225 

Toulon.  Between  Provence  and  Dauphine,  on  the  Rhone, 
was  the  small  territory  of  Avignon,  having,  as  its  capital,  the 
city  of  Avignon,  often  mentioned  in  history.  These  regions 
were  the  principal  scene  of  the  horrible  religious  persecutions 
which  are  presently  to  be  mentioned.  They  had  long  been, 
together  with  nearly  all  the  southern  half  of  France,  but  more 
especially  Languedoc  and  Provence,  distinguished  as  the  abode 
of  the  Troubadours.  Down  to  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century, 
when  Philip  Augustus  returned  from  Palestine,  the  provinces 
on  the  Mediterranean  had  been  independent,  and  had  become 
populous  and  rich  by  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the  benefits  of 
commerce.  Many  of  the  great  and  inferior  nobles  were  regu- 
larly knighted,  and  were  distinguished  as  poets  and  songsters, 
and  as  such  were  called  troubadours.  This  name  is  rather 
fancifully  derived  from  the  French  word  trouver,  (to  find.) 
The  language  in  which  their  songs  were  composed  acquired, 
and  still  retains  the  name  of  proven^al,  (from  Provence)  which 
has  become  another  name  for  romance.  Their  songs  were  ac- 
companied by  the  harp.  However  the  origin  of  chivalry  is 
to  be  accounted  for,  it  is  admitted,  that  its  utmost  refinements, 
in  relation  to  chivalrous  warfare  and  romantic  devotion  to  the 
sex,  are  to  be  traced  to  the  troubadours.  [In  another  place 
some  remarks  will  be  made  on  chivalry.] 

Chivalry,  poetry,  song,  and  love,  had  made  the  regions  of 
the  troubadours,  in  the  south  of  France,  the  happiest  in  the 
world,  since  almost  all  other  parts  were  involved  in  civil  wars 
and  barbarism.  This  population,  (nobles  and  people,)  were 
blessed  with  occupation  ;  the  former  with  that  which  was  hu- 
manizing and  refining;  the  latter  with  agriculture,  commerce, 
and  manufactures.  This  comparative  felicity  had  continued 
throughout  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries.  Among  the 
celebrated  troubadours,  were  William  IX.,  count  of  Poitou, 
whom  Tasso  honors  under  the  name  of  Raymond  de  St.  Gilles, 
and  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion.  The  latter,  as  well  as  Frederick 
Barbarossa,  of  Germany,  invited  troubadour  knights  to  their 
courts.  Assemblies  were  frequently  held,  where  the  knights 
distinguished  themselves  by  feats  in  arms,  and  where  the 
ladies  presided,  and  awarded  the  wrell  earned  honors  to  the 
skilful  and  valiant.  The  ladies  held  "courts  of  love,"  in 
which  prizes  were  contended  for  in  poetry,  and  the  melody  of 
the  voice  aided  by  the  harp.  Every  knight  was  devoted  to 
6ome  one  of  the  fair,  whose  praises  were  the  burthen  of  his 
song.  In  these  courts  were  discussed  questions  (in  this  age 
of  the  world,  superseded  by  more  serious,  though  not  less  in- 


22G  FRANCE. 

teresting  pursuits)  of  this  nature : — Is  it  most  afflictive  to  lose 
one's  lover  by  battle,  or  infidelty  ?  It  is  not  improbable  that 
these  romantic  scenes  were  not  limited  to  the  imagination.  But 
however  removed  they  may  have  been  from  real  purity  and 
innocence,  they  were  less  injurious,  in  fact  or  example,  than  the 
desolating  crimes  which  harassed  society  wherever  the  spirit 
of  the  troubadours  was  unknown.  These  beautiful  illusions 
were  suddenly  overwhelmed  by  one  of  the  most  detestable 
transactions  recorded  in  history. 

The  persecution  of  the  Albigenses  and  Waldenses.  A  dis- 
cussion of  the  tenets  of  these  religious  sects  would  be  exceed- 
ingly dry  and  uninteresting.  Curiosity  may  be  satisfied,  on 
this  point,  by  referring  to  the  last  chapter  of  Hallam's  Middle 
Ages,  wherein  he  discloses  the  result  of  his  patient  research, 
and  the  authorities  on  which  he  relies.  It  is  sufficient  for  the 
present  purpose  to  say,  that  they  differed  most  essentially  from 
the  Roman  church,  in  tenets,  and  in  practice.  These  heresies, 
as  the  church  called  them,  prevailed  generally  in  the  south  of 
France,  and  especially  in  the  district  in  which  the  city  of  Albi, 
before  mentioned,  is  situated.  The  Waldenses  are  derived  from 
Peter  Waldo,  of  the  city  of  Lyons,  who  preached  doctrines  op- 
posed to  the  Roman  church.  He  caused  a  portionof  the  scrip- 
tures to  be  translated  from  the  Latin  into  the  French.  This 
was  about  the  year  1170.  His  crime  was,  that  he  undertook 
to  live,  and  to  persuade  others  to  live,  like  the  apostles.  These 
heresies  were  found  also  in  Switzerland,  where  they  had  the 
name  of  Vauderie,  which  is  said,  by  some,  to  mean  the  reli- 
gion of  the  vallies.  The  teachings  of  Waldo  are  regarded  as 
among  the  first  dawnings  of  the  reformation. 

The  lives  and  the  opinions  of  the  troubadours  were  essen- 
tially opposed  to  the  requisitions  of  the  Church.  The  ignor- 
ance, the  immoralities,  and  the  covetousness  of  the  clergy,  call- 
ed forth  the  reproach  and  the  sarcasm  of  the  poets. 

At  this  time,  1208,  Innocent  III.  was  the  pope;  and  Ray- 
mond, count  of  Toulouse,  was  the  sovereign  of  Languedoc. 
Albi  was  the  principal  seat  of  heresy.  Innocent  issued  his 
anathemas  against  the  heretics,  and  sent  his  legate,  Peter,  of 
Castelnau,  to  command  count  Raymond  to  extirpate  them.  The 
legate  excommunicated  Raymond,  and  openly  insulted  him  in 
his  court.  The  next  day,  the  legate  was  assassinated  by  a 
gentleman  of  the  count's  retinue.  This  was  the  spark  which 
kindled  a  war  of  desolation,  not  exceeded  by  any  which  has 
been  known  among  men. 

Innocent  published  a  crusade  against  Raymond  and  his  sub- 


FRANCE.  227 

jects,  and  called  upon  Philip,  of  France,  and  the  nobility  of  his 
kingdom,  to  take  up  the  cross  against  them.  All  the  gifts  and 
indulgences  usually  proposed  in  religious  warfare,  were  freely 
offered.  Philip  would  not  interfere,  but  his  nobles,  and  a  mul- 
titude of  knights  and  ecclesiastics,  gladly  engaged  in  the  enter- 
prize.  Whatever  cruelty,  skill,  strength  and  superstition  can 
unitedly  do,  to  butcher,  desolate,  and  destroy,  signalized  this 
holy  war.  The  victims  were  peaceable,  humane,  and  innocent; 
they  had  offended  against  no  law  which  was  intended  to  secure 
the  rights  of  person  or  property,  or  to  preserve  the  public  tran- 
quillity. But  they  did  not  admit  the  right  of  the  pope  to  dic- 
tate to  them  what  they  should  believe,  nor  how  they  should 
worship. 

The  crusaders  were  led  on  by  Simon  de  Mountfort,  the  an- 
cestor of  Mountfort,  who  took  so  active  a  part  in  English  af- 
fairs, in  the  time  of  Henry  III.  The  city  of  Bexiers  was  first 
assailed,  and  here  15,000,  as  one  account  says,  and  another, 
60,000,  without  discrimination  of  sex  or  age,  were  massacred. 
It  was  here  that  a  cistertian  monk,  who  was  asked  how  the 
catholics  should  be  distinguished  from  the  heretics,  exclaimed, 
kill  them  all !  God  will  know  his  own !  Mountfort  was  prom- 
ised an  independent  principality  as  the  reward  of  his  pious  la- 
bors. It  would  be  as  useless  as  painful,  to  follow  out  the  par- 
ticulars of  this  warfare,  in  which  every  base  passion,  which 
mortals  can  feel,  and  every  base  crime  which  they  can  commit, 
were  daily  occurrences.  ^  There  is  some  satisfaction  in  the  fact, 
that  while  Mountfort  was  besieging  Toulouse,  he  met  with 
some  justice  for  his  enormities,  in  being  crushed  by  a  stone 
which  fell  from  tte  walls  of  the  city.  This  Avar  continued 
18  years,  (1226)  without  abating,  in  the  least,  in  the  atrocity  of 
its  character.  In  the  mean  time,  (1223,)  Philip  Augustus  had 
deceased,  and  his  son,  Louis  VIII.,  had  ascended  the  throne. 
Louis  VIII.  led  an  army  into  Languedoc,  and  the  whole  coun- 
try, apparently,  submitted  to  him.  But  this  expedition  cost  the 
monarch  his  life.  An  epidemic  disease  prevailed,  probably  a 
consequence  of  the  miseries  of  the  war.  Louis  reached  Au- 
-vergne,  in  his  way  back,  and  there  became  a  victim  of  this  ep- 
idemic. 

It  is  impossible  to  state  the  numbers  who  perished  by  the 
sword,  by  famine,  by  disease,  in  dungeons,  and  by  torture.  But 
this  beautiful  country  became  a  ruin,  the  troubadours,  and  their 
gallant  spirit,  were  crushed,  to  be  known  there  no  more. 

After  the  death  of  Louis  VIIL,  Raymond,  the  young  count 
of  Toulouse,  again  embodied  an  army,  to  contend  for  indepen- 


228  FRANCE. 

dence.  For  two  years  he  was  able  to  sustain  himself;  but  the 
zeal  of  the  pope  was  excited  anew,  and  he  commanded  another 
crusade.  Raymond,  fearing  a  renewal  of  former  scenes,  offered 
to  treat.  Two  thirds  of  his  dominions  were  ceded  to  France. 
His  daughter  and  heiress  was  affianced  to  a  brother  of  the  suc- 
cessor of  Louis  VIII.  On  failure  of  heirs  of  this  marriage, 
the  remaining  third  was  to  go,  also,  to  France.  Thus,  in  1229, 
the  whole  of  the  south  of  France  passed  to  the  royal  family, 
and  soon  became  part  of  the  domains  of  the  kingdom. 

The  Inquisition.  In  the  time  of  the  war  against  the  Albi- 
genses,  arose  this  terrible  engine  of  the  Roman  church,  which 
existed  in  different  parts  of  Christendom,  till  very  lately;  and 
can  hardly  be  said  to  be  now  abolished.  Its  measures  were 
directed  exclusively  by  the  popes.  The  immediate  agents  were 
the  merciless  monks  of  the  Franciscan  and  Dominican  order, 
especially  the  latter.  The  object  was  twofold,  to  command  im- 
plicit obedience,  and  to  enrich  the  church  with  the  property  of 
the  condemned.  Pope  Innocent  the  third  has  the  honor  of  this 
invention.  The  informers  were  not  only  unknown  to  the  ac- 
cused, but  rewarded  for  their  zeal.  The  unfortunate  victims 
were  seized,  thrown  into  prison,  and  made  to  be  their  own  ac- 
cusers, by  the  most  insufferable  torments.  On  this  evidence 
lives  were  taken,  either  secretly  or  by  public  burnings,  and 
property  confiscated  to  the  church.  Every  person  was  hourly 
in  peril,  and  at  the  mercy  of  open  or  concealed  enemies.  The 
punishable  crime  was  not  .defined,  and  no  one  knew  how  to  de- 
fend himself,  nor  whether  his  reponses,  to  his  judges,  would 
exculpate  or  condemn.  The  law  was  enacted  for  the  occasion, 
and  was  alike  applicable  to  those  who  had  never  been  of  the 
church,  and  to  those  who  departed,  in  the  opinion  of  the  tribu- 
nal, in  the  least,  from  its  tyrannical  requisitions.  It  is  aston- 
ishing that  such  a  power  should  have  been  tolerated  among 
men  for  a  single  day,  but  it  was  tolerated  and  approved 
of  by  temporal  rulers,  who,  in  other  respects,  were  com- 
mendable persons.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  whose  names 
are  so  intimately  associated  with  this  western  hemisphere,  are 
among  those  to  whom  belongs  the  reproach  of  having  promot- 
ed this  diabolical  institution.  Even  the  good  Louis  IX.,  (who 
is  presently  to  be  introduced,)  authorized  an  obscure  monk  to 
dispose  of  the  lives  of  many  of  his  subjects  in  Paris ;  though, 
with  all  his  piety,  he  did  not  admit  the  papal  supremacy. 


FRANCE.  229 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Saint  Louis — His  first  Crusade — His  internal  Government — His  second 
Crusade — His  Death. 

Saint  Louis,  or  Louis  IX.  This  monarch  was  the  son  of 
Louis  VIIL,  and  of  Blanche,  of  Castile.  He  became  king  be- 
fore he  was  twelve  years  of  age,  while  under  the  pupilage  of 
his  mother,  who  was,  also,  regent  of  the  kingdom  Though 
the  crown  of  France  could  not  descend  to  a  female,  nor  be 
claimed  by  the  son  of  a  female,  as  heir,  yet  the  two  characters 
of  guardian  and  regent  united  in  Blanche.  She  proved  to  be 
worthy  of  the  trust.  Twenty-eight  years  after  his  death  Louis 
was  duly  canonized,  or  made  a  saint,  according  to  the  ceremo- 
nies of  the  church,  whence  he  is  usually  called  Saint  Louis.* 

Saint  Louis  had  several  brothers  who  are  connected  with 
French  history.  Robert,  count  of  Artois,  Alphonso,  count  of 
Poitiers,  wTho  married  the  daughter  of  Raymond,  count  of 
Toulouse ;  and  Charles,  count  of  Anjou,  who  was  king  of  Na- 
ples. 

The  public  acts  of  Saint  Louis,  and  his  character  as  a  mon- 
arch and  a  man,' were  recorded  by  his  friend  and  companion, 
Joinville.  From  this  source  most  of  the  historians  of  France 
and  England,  who  have  treated  of  Louis,  have  drawn  their  in- 
formation. Very  lately,  Segur  of  France,  has  written  a  life  of 
him.  The  concurrent  opinion  places  him  far  above  all  the 
crowned  heads  of  his  time.  He  was  sincerely  devout;  scru- 
pulously honest;  inflexibly  just:  accomplished  as  a  warrior, 
and  unsurpassed  in  valor.  His  defects  were,  that  his  mother 
gave  him  the  education  of  a  monk,  rather  than  that  of  a  states- 
man ;  he  was  less  eminent  for  natural  strength  of  mind  than 
for  other  qualities;  his  religious  devotion  was  not  the  principle 
of  Christianity,  but  of  superstition. 

*  Canonization  is  one  of  the  most  solemn  ceremonies  of  the  Roman 
church.  The  candidate  for  this  honor  undergoes  a  trial  instituted  by 
the  pope.  An  advocate  of  the  devil  is  appointed  to  assail  the  memory  of 
the  deceased.  The  miracles  ascribed  to  his  relics  are  investigated.  If 
these  are  sufficiently  proved,  and  the  advocate  loses  his  cause,  as  he  is 
always  sure  to  do,  the  pope  pronounces  the  beatification,  and  the  name 
of  the  saint  is  inserted  in  the  canon,  or  litany  of  the  saints  used  in  the 
mass.  After  this,  churches  and  altars  may  be  dedicated  in  the  name  of 
the  new  saint,  and  his  remains  are  religiously  preserved  as  holy  relics. 
The  first  canonization  was  in  993,  the  last  in  1803. 

20 


230  FRANCE. 

In  the  first  year  of  his  reign,  some  of  his  nobles,  supposing 
a  contest  with  a  female  and  a  minor  king  might  prove  success- 
ful, rebelled,  and  attempted  to  recover  their  sovereignty.  They 
were  defeated,  and  the  power  of  the  crown  strengthened.  By 
the  marriage  of  the  heiress  of  Raymond  with  Charles,  count 
of  Anjou,  Provence,  in  the  south,  came  to  the  royal  house.  In 
1244,  when  Louis  was  of  the  age  of  thirty,  he  recovered  from  a 
dangerous  illness,  and,  in  gratitude  for  this  event,  he  assumed 
the  cross.  The  affairs  of  the  crusaders  in  the  east  were  at  this 
time  in  a  deplorable  condition,  and  every  effort  was  made  to 
dissuade  Louis  from  undertaking  this  perilous  adventure.  In 
preparation  for  his  departure,  he  put  an  end  to  the  languid  war 
which  had  been  going  on  between  him  and  Henry  III.,  of 
England.  He  offered  to  restore  whatsoever  his  predecessors 
had  unjustly  usurped,  and  made  alliances  with  all  who  might 
disturb  his  dominions  in  his  absence.  He  attracted  to  his 
standard  most  of  the  turbulent  nobles.  He  was  even  guilty  of 
a  pious  fraud  to  increase  his  numbers.  It  was  the  custom,  at 
Christmas,  to  deliver  garments  to  those  who  were  of  the  prince- 
ly retinue,  (whence  comes  the  word  livery,)  and  Louis  invited 
many  to  celebrate  mass  with  him  before  the  dawn  of  that  day, 
and  delivered  the  customary  donation.  When  day-light  came, 
his  company  found  themselves  clothed  in  vestments  which  bore 
the  holy  cross,  which  they  could  not  throw  off  This  supersti- 
tious devotion  is  justly  regarded  as  the  weak  point  of  the  king's 
character.  But  the  character  of  his  time  is  not  to  be  over- 
looked. 

The  seat  of  the  sovereign  power,  which  had  driven  the  cru- 
saders from  Jerusalem,  was  Egypt.  Thither  Louis  directed 
his  course,  in  1248,  with  a  numerous  body  of  knights,  nearly 
2,800,  and  an  army,  well  appointed,  of  50,000.  Some  accounts 
greatly  augment  these  members.  His  vessels  are  said  to  have 
been  1800.  He  debarked  at  Damietta,  near  the  sea-coast,  east- 
wardly  of  Alexandria,  and  about  60  miles  north  of  Cairo.  Of 
this  place  he  made  himself  master.  After  many  disasters,  and 
principally  that  of  the  annual  inundation  of  the  Nile,  which 
was  followed  by  pestilence  and  famine,  he  approached  Massou- 
ra,  near  the  present  site  of  modern  Cairo.  A  desperate  battle 
was  fought  here  in  1250.  Artois,  the  king's  brother,  and  many 
chiefs  of  his  forces  were  slain.  The  king  was  taken  prisoner, 
with  all  that  remained  of  his  army.  The  conduct  of  the  un- 
fortunate Louis  is  highly  extolled  ;  and  he  becomes  a  more  in- 
teresting character  from  his  magnanimity  as  a  captive,  than  in 
his  days  of  prosperity.  He  redeemed  himself  by  the  restoration 


FRANCE.  231 

of  Damietta;  and  his  associates,  by  a  large  sum  of  money. 
He  departed,  leaving  hostages  for  the  performance  of  his  con- 
tract. He  went,  next,  to  Acre,  and  the  territories  at  the  east 
end  of  the  Mediterranean,  which  the  crusaders  still  held.  Here 
he  remained  four  years,  to  fortify  and  strengthen  these  posses- 
sions. The  decease  of  his  mother,  during  this  time,  obliged 
him  to  return.  Humbled  by  his  misfortunes,  he  is  said  never 
to  have  laid  aside  the  emblem  of  the  cross,  nor  to  have  partici- 
pated in  any  festivity. 

From  the  time  of  his  return,  in  1254,  till  1270,  Louis  devot- 
ed himself  to  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of  his  kingdom, 
and  to  the  taking  care  of  his  own  soul,  and  the  souls  of  all  oth- 
ers whom  he  could  command  or  influence.  It  is  in  the  exer- 
cise of  his  civil  power,  that  the  beauty  of  Louis's  character  is 
illustrated.  He  sought  to  compromise  the  contentions  which 
arose  among  the  nobles ;  and  to  do  exact  justice  to  all  men.  He 
is  represented  as  sitting  under  the  shade  of  a  tree  listening  to 
the  complaints  of  the  humblest  of  his  subjects.  It  is  not  improb- 
able that  he  foresaw  the  tendency  of  wise  measures  to  strengthen 
the  royal  authority.  Such  tendency  they  had,  as  all  his  subjects 
learned  to  look  to  him  as  their  discriminating  and  upright 
judge  as  well  as  their  sovereign.  "Many a  time,"  says  Join- 
ville,  *'  I  have  seen  the  saint,  after  hearing  mass  in  the  summer 
season,  lay  himself  at  the  foot  of  an  oak,  in  the  wood  of  Vin- 
cennes,  and  make  us  all  sit  round  him ;  when  those  who  would, 
came  and  spake  to  him,  without  the  let  of  any  officer ;  and  he 
would  ask  aloud  if  there  were  any  present  who  had  suits,  and 
when  they  appeared,  would  bid  two  of  his  bailiffs  determine 
their  causes  upon  the  spot." 

Some  acts  of  Louis  distinguish  his  reign.  1.  The  establish- 
ment of  a  code  of  laws,  in  which  he  endeavored  to  abolish  ju- 
dicial combat,  or  the  settling  of  right  by  the  force  of  arms.  2. 
The  abolition  of  private  war,  by  requiring  40  days  to  elapse 
between  the  offence  and  hostilities.  3.  The  pragmatic  sanc- 
tion, (a  term  borrowed  from  the  civil  law,  signifying  a  rescript, 
response,  or  judgment,)  by  which  the  rights  of  the  French 
church  were  established.  By  the  first  measure  he  sought  to 
bring  controversies  into  judicial  courts,  and  to  have  a  peace- 
able investigation  by  competent  judges.  By  the  second,  he 
meant  to  extirpate  the  long-continued  practice  of  private  ven- 
geance, (which  involved  whole  communities,)  by  giving  time 
for  passion  to  subside,  and  for  pacification  to  arise.  By  the 
third,  he  established, — 1.  That  all  persons  having  the  right  to 
appoint  to  clerical  offices,  should  enjoy  that  right — 2.   That  the 


232  FRANCE. 

church  should  exercise  freely  the  rights  of  election — 3.  That 
no  pecuniary  exaction  should  be  levied  by  the  pope  without  the 
consent  of  the  king,  and  of  the  national  church.  These  pro- 
visions led  to  violent  measures  between  the  popes,  and  some 
iuture  kings  of  France. 

In  1267,  the  Christians  of  the  west  were  shocked  by 
the  intelligence,  that  the  Infidels  had  taken  Antioch,  and 
had  put  100,000  persons  to  death.  Louis,  who  was  now 
56  years  of  age,  forthwith  resolved  on  another  crusade.  He 
made  the  usual  preparations,  and  departed  from  the  south 
of  France  in  1170.  To  the  surprise  of  his  followers,  in 
stead  of  going  to  Palestine  or  Egypt,  he  directed  his  fleet  to 
Tunis,  on  the  northern  coast  of  Africa,  the  site  of  ancient 
Carthage,  1500  miles  westward  of  the  Nile.  He  is  supposed 
to  have  believed  that  the  sovereign  there  was  inclined  to  be- 
come a  Christian.  But  he  found  a  determined  enemy  in  the 
Tunisians,  and  a  far  more  formidable  one  in  the  plague.  He 
had  three  sons  with  him.  They  and  himself  took  the  infec- 
tion, and  one  of  his  sons,  the  count  of  Nevers,  soon  died.  Louis 
was  ill  22  days,  during  which  he  displayed  the  calmness  and 
good  sense  which  never  forsook  him.  Finding  his  end  ap- 
proaching, he  ordered  that  his  body  should  be  laid  on  a  heap 
of  ashes,  and  he  there  expired.  Charles,  of  Anjou,  brother  of 
the  king,  made  peace  with  the  king  of  Tunis.  Philip,  son 
and  successor  of  Louis,  returned  through  Italy  with  the  mourn- 
ful trophies  of  this  ill-advised  expedition — five  coffins,  contain- 
ing the  bodies  of  his  father,  brother,  brother-in-law,  wife,  and 
child. 

This  was  the  seventh  and  last  crusade.*  There  remained 
to  the  Christians  four  places  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, Tripoli,  Tyre,  Berytus,  and  St.  Jean  d'Acre,  or 
Ptolemais.  These  places  successively  yielded  to  the  power  of 
the  Saracens;  and,  lastly,  the  latter,  in  1291.  Thus,  the  ex- 
traordinary fanaticism  of  the  crusades  had  continued  about  two 
centuries,  (1096 — 1291.)  It  was  impoverishing  to  the  west  of 
Europe,  and  occasioned  the  sacrifice  of  millions  of  lives.  So 
viewed,  it  was  an  egregious  folly.  But,  like  many  other  events 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  the  agents  who  conducted  them 
foresaw  none  of  the  consequences.  These  were  developed  in 
future  ages,  and  their  effects  are  among  tjie  causes  of  the 
present  condition  of  society.  In  another  place  there  will  be 
occasion  to  revert  to  this  subject. 

*  All  the  crusades  have  not  been  mentioned:  those  which  began  else- 
where than  in  France,  belong  to  notices  of  the  country  of  their  origin, 
or  to  the  history  of  Rome. 


FRANCE,  $33 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

The  five  Kings,  descendants  of  St.  Louis — Internal  state  of  France — 
Warfare  between  Philip  and  Pope  Boniface —  The  papal  seat  removed  to 
France — Destruction  of  the  order  of  Knight  Templars — Death  of  Philip. 

Between  the  death  of  St.  Louis  in  1270,  and  1328,  five 
kings  reigned,  who  were  lineally  descended  from  him.  Philip 
III.,  his  son,  called  the  Hardy,  fifteen  years;  Philip  IV., 
called  the  Fair,  grandson  of  Louis,  twenty-nine  years ;  Louis 
X.,  called  Hutin,  or  Stubborn,  great-grandson  of  St.  Louis, 
two  years  ;  Philip  V.  six  years  ;  Charles  IV.  six  years  ;  the 
last  two  were  brothers  of  Louis  X.  In  1328,  the  crown  went 
to  the  house  of  Valois. 

In  these  fifty-eight  years,  the  condition  of  France  was  ex- 
ceedingly miserable,  from  very  natural  causes.  The  kings 
considered  themselves  as  vested  with  royal  authority  for  their 
own  exclusive  benefit,  and  not  for  that  of  the  nation.  The 
nobles  were  ignorant  and  turbulent,  and  tyrannical  to  their 
inferiors ;  the  clergy  were  ignorant,  rapacious,  and  profligate ; 
and  the  mass  of  the  people,  whether  free  or  slaves,  insuffera- 
bly oppressed.  The  mind  was  undisciplined  ;  the  occupations 
which  arise  from  learning,  the  arts,  and  commerce,  were  little 
known,  and  there  remained  no  occupation  but  to  obey  the 
rudest  of  impulses. 

In  the  reign  of  the  first  of  these  five  kings,  arose  the  quar- 
rels between  France  and  Arragon,  (in  Spain,)  which  were 
transferred  to  Sicily,  where,  in  1282,  occurred  the  massacre  of 
the  French,  known  as  that  of  the  Sicilian  vespers,  elsewhere 
to  be  mentioned.  Philip  the  Fair  was  able  and  wicked,  and 
some  of  his  acts  had  consequences  which  extended  beyond  his 
own  time.  He  was  contemporary  with  Edward  I.  of  England, 
who  married  his  sister  Margaret.  He  possessed  himself  of 
Guienne,  then  a  province  of  Edward,  by  a  course  of  fraudu- 
lent acts.  Philippa,  daughter  of  the  count  of  Flanders,  was 
sought  and  obtained  by  Edward,  for  his  son.  Philip,  desirous 
of  preventing  the  county  of  Flanders  from  passing  to  the  royal 
house  of  England,  invited  the  count  to  permit  his  daughter  to 
visit  the  French  court,  in  her  way  to  England.  She  came, 
and  was  detained  in  prison,  and  never  reached  her  destination. 
Flanders  was  then  a  fief  (or  dependent  territory)  of  the  French 
king.  The  count  took  arms,  was  defeated,  and  made  prisoner 
20* 


234  FRANCE. 

himself.  All  foreign  merchants,  in  France,  were  seized  and 
imprisoned  on  the  same  day,  and  compelled  to  release  them- 
selves by  paying  exorbitant  sums.  The  Jews  were  treated  in 
like  manner.  His  own  subjects  did  not  fare  better.  He  de- 
based the  coin  in  the  proportion  of  four  to  one,  and  compelled 
his  subjects  to  surrender  their  gold  and  silver,  and  take  pay  in 
the  debased  coin,  as  though  no  alteration  in  its  value  had  been 
made.  Such  acts  disclose  the  standard  of  princely  morals, 
and  also  the  fact,  that  the  royal  authority  had  become  firmly 
established.  The  communes,  or  towns  of  France,  had  multi- 
plied, and  had  become  opulent.  To  subject'  these  to  his  exac- 
tions, he  assembled  deputies  from  them,  and  was  able  to  induce 
or  compel  them  to  the  measure  of  taxing  themselves.  This  is 
the  first  instance  of  the  meeting  of  the  commons,  as  it  would 
be  called  in  England,  or  the  third  estate,  (tiers  etat,)  as  it  was 
called  in  France. 

The  French  church  had  maintained  a  certain  degree  of 
independence  of  the  pope.  Philip  exacted  a  tenth  from  the 
church.^  An  appeal  was  made  to  Rome.  Clement  VIII. 
justified  the  French  prelates  in  refusing  to  pay,  and  sent  a 
legate  to  remonstrate.  Philip  had  found  the  lawyers,  who 
had  become  an  important  body,  useful  to  him,  and  he  ordered  his 
lawyers  to  proceed  against  the  legate  in  the  judicial  court.  He 
was  indicted  for  heresy,  sorcery,  and  atheism,  and  put  in  prison. 
The  pope  threatened  excommunication.  Philip  ordered  him 
to  be  indicted  ;  but,  as  his  process  could  not  reach  to  Rome,  he 
employed  agents  there  to  seize  the  pope  at  his  country  seat. 
Though  rescued,  his  sufferings  and  indignities  occasioned  his 
death.  This  was  a  daring  exercise  of  power,  and  gave  great 
offence,  especially  in  Italy.*  Benedict  XI.  was  elected,  and 
was  preparing  to  thunder  the  anathemas  of  the  church  for  the 
crimes  committed  against  his  predecessor,  when  he  was  brought 
to  the  grave  by  poison.  Whether  this  was  Philip's  act  is 
unknown.  To  provide  against  papal  interference,  in  future, 
Philip,  by  a  course  of  ingenious  intrigues  and  fraudulent  con- 
trivances, procured  the  election  of  a  creature  of  his  own,  Ber- 
trand  de  Goth,  archbishop  of  Bordeaux.  The  election  was  so 
obstinately  contested  as  to  last  nine  months,  during  all  which 
time,  (as  the  usage  was,)  the  electoral  conclave  of  cardinals 
had  remained  shut  up,  and  without  separating.  On  the  elec- 
tion of  Bertrand,  the  abode  of  the  pontiff  was  transferred  from 

*  In  the  history  of  the  church,  Boniface,  the  assault  on  him,  and  his 
death,  will  be  more  fully  noticed. 


FRANCE. 


235 


Rome  to  Avignon,  on  the  Rhone,  in  the  south  of  France,  and 
there  continued  to  "be  for  seventy  years. 

Several  conditions  were  exacted  from  Bertrand  hy  Philip, 
as  the  price  of  his  election.  One  of  them  was  the  destruction 
of  the  order  of  knight  templars,  to  be  fully  mentioned  in  the 
sketches  of  the  crusades.  Philip  had  two  motives  :  vengeance, 
because  the  templars  were  his  personal  adversaries,  and  to 
obtain  their  immense  riches.  This  order  was  constituted  in 
Palestine.  Their  vocation  was  (in  Palestine)  to  guard  the 
pilgrims  to  the  sepulchre,  and  their  name  was  derived  from 
having  had  a  place  assigned  them  to  dwell  in,  near  the  temple 
in  Jerusalem.  The  order  began  in  1119.  They  took  the 
usual  vows  of  obedience,  chastity,  and  poverty,  required  of 
clerical  orders.  Their  rules  were  similar  to  those  of  the  Ben- 
edictine monks.  Their  numbers  increased,  and  were  divided 
into  grades,  over  which  was  a  grand-master,  who  was,  at 
length,  a  high  dignitary,  and  of  princely  birth,  claiming  equal- 
ity with  sovereigns.  They  acknowledged  no  superior  but  the 
pope.  They  survived  the  crusades,  became  very  numerous 
and  immensely  rich,  and  spread  over  most  of  Europe.  "  In 
1224,  they  had  nine  thousand  bailiwicks,  commanderies,  prio- 
ries, and  preceptories,  (all  of  which  were  landed  estates,)  which 
they  held  independent  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  sovereigns  in 
whose  countries  they  were  situated."  They  were  among  the 
last  to  leave  Palestine,  in  1291.  They  lived  in  extraordinary 
luxury,  and  were  considered  to  be  a  dangerous  combination, 
especially  in  France.  They  were  charged  with  odious  crimes, 
whether  justly  or  not.  In  the  quarrel  between  Philip  and 
Boniface,  they  took  the  part  of  the  pope.  In  1306,  James 
Bernard  Molay,  of  Burgundy,  was  grand-master,  and  resided 
at  Paris,  in  the  temple.  Clement  V.,  whom  Philip  had 
made  pope,  on  pretence  of  consulting  for  a  new  crusade,  called 
to  Paris  sixty  of  the  principal  templars.  They,  many  others, 
and  the  grand-master  himself,  were  immediately  made  prison- 
ers, by  Philip's  order.  Accusations  followed,  comprising  every 
crime  that  Philip's  lawyers  could  suggest.  The  king's  con- 
fessor, the  archbishop  of  Sens,  with  others,  were  made  inquis- 
itors. The  most  horrible  tortures  drew  forth  confessions. 
Condemnation  and  the  forfeiture  of  riches  followed.  In  1310, 
the  archbishop  caused  fifty-four  to  be  burnt  alive,  who  denied, 
to  the  last,  every  crime  of  which  they  had  been  accused.  It 
was  not  until  the  13th  of  March,  1314,  that  Philip  ventured  on 
the  execution  of  the  grand-master,  Molay.  There  is  a  tra- 
dition, that  Molay,  while  the  flames  were  kindling  around 


236 


FRANCE. 


him,  summoned  the  pope  and  the  king  to  appear  at  the  judg- 
ment-seat of  God,  within  a  year.  The  pope  died  within  forty- 
days,  and  Philip  on  the  29th  of  the  following  November. 
The  king  and  the  pope  divided  the  spoil.  By  a  bull  of  the 
pope,  March  2,  1312,  the  order  was  abolished. 

In  other  countries,  the  allegations  against  the  templars  were 
investigated,  but  they  do  not  appear  to  have  been  condemned 
any  where  but  in  France.  Works  have  been  published,  both 
in  Germany  and  France,  on  the  character  and  conduct  of  this 
order.  At  this  day  it  is  unsettled,  whether  any,  and  if  any, 
which  of  the  many  charges  against  them  were  well  founded. 

The  conduct  of  Philip  the  Fair,  however  odious  in  the 
transactions  which  have  been  mentioned,  was,  in  other  re- 
spects, beneficial  to  his  country.  He  is  considered  to  have 
been  the  founder  of  the  parliamentary  representation  of  the 
people — to  have  done  essential  service  in  demolishing  the  bur- 
thensome  fabric  of  the  feudal  system — to  have  set  the  example 
of  abolishing  servitude — to  have  established  the  monarchy  on 
a  firm  basis.  This  change,  in  the  then  state  of  France,  was 
clearly  a  beneficial  one,  if  those  who  afterwards  wore  the 
crown  had  been  worthy  of  the  trust.  There  could  be  no 
better  state  of  things  than  evils  of  some  sort.  He  did  much 
to  abolish  the  greatest,  the  exercise  of  sovereignty  by  the 
nobles.  One  measure  to  this  end,  was  the  establishment  of 
judicial  courts,  though  he  perverted  their  powers  to  accomplish 
his  own  purposes.  But  the  French  nation  do  not  seem  to 
have  been  qualified  to  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunities 
which  arose,  to  secure  themselves  against  the  abuse  of  royal 
authority.  Similar  abuse  in  England  gradually  prepared  the 
way  for  constitutional  liberty.  In  France,  evils  accumulated 
from  the  time  of  this  monarch,  and  prepared  the  way  for  a 
terrible  convulsion,  retarded  and  avoided,  however,  till  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  three  sons  of  Philip,  who  successively  came  to  the 
throne,  were  very  inferior  men  to  their  father.  Some  meas- 
ures, not  unlike  his,  were  pursued  by  them,  but  they  are  not 
of  sufficient  importance  to  be  noticed.  No  one  of  them  left 
an  heir  who  could  take  the  crown.  It  devolved  upon  a  col- 
lateral branch  of  the  family,  in  1328. 


FRANCE.  237 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Philip  VI. —  Wars  of  France  and  England — Commotions  in  Prance — Its 
miserable  Condition — Battles  between  tlie  English  and  French — Jacque- 
rie—Peace between  the  two  Countries.  ^ 

Philip  of  Valois,  or  VI.,  took  the  crown  to  the  exclusion 
of  all  females,  and  heirs  of  females.  He  was  son  of  a  brother 
of  Philip  the  Fair,  and  great-grandson  of  Saint  Louis,  and  the 
first  of  seven  kings  of  this  race,  who  reigned  in  lineal  descent 
from  him,  through  one  hundred  and  sixty  years,  from  1328  to 
1498.  The  course  of  succession  will  be  found  in  the  preced- 
ing table  of  kings. 

The  events  of  these  one  hundred  and  sixty  years  are  often 
more  amusing  than  instructive,  since  there  is  nothing  new  in 
them,  unless  it  be  in  the  manner  in  which  power  was  exercis- 
ed, and  the  worst  of  passions  gratified.  Historical  facts  are 
the  wars  of  France  and  England,  which  continued,  with  little 
respite,  for  the  first  hundred  years,  and  the  violent  contentions 
of  the  nobles  (who  were  related  to  the  royal  house)  for  power, 
during  the  minority  or  incapacity  of  kings.  Facts  are  also 
referable  to  another  cause  :  the  internal  misery  of  France  from 
civil  commotions  and  the  wretchedness  of  its  lower  classes  of 
people;  a  natural  consequence  of  these  wars  and  contentions. 
In  these  hundred  years  arose  that  national  hostility  which  is 
sometimes  spoken  of  as  inevitable  and  inheritable,  between 
France  and  England. 

Among  the  most  formidable  pretenders  to  the  throne  of 
France,  through  female  heirship,  was  Edward  111.  of  England. 
His  mother  was  Isabel,  daughter  of  Philip  the  Fair ;  and  if  fe- 
males and  their  heirs  were  not  excluded  by  the  Salic  law,  Ed- 
ward was  nearer  the  throne  as  son  of  Philip's  daughter,  than 
Philip  de  Valois,  who  descended  from  Philip's  brother.  These 
pretensions  furnished  an  excuse  for  attempting  absolute  conquest, 
and  this  was  continued  (with  the  help  of  other  causes  of  hos- 
tility) for  a  century,  as  a  sort  of  national  business,  to  be  always 
in  view,  and  always  diligently  pursued,  when  not  unavoidably 
interrupted. 

The  royal  authority  had  been  growing  stronger  in  France, 
and  the  new  king,  Philip  VI.,  was  adapted  and  disposed  to 
use  it  with  royal  splendor.  He  may  be  considered  as  the  first 
who  absorbed,  in  the  attractions  of  his  own  court,  the  nobles 


238  FRANCE. 

who  had  held  courts  of  their  own,  in  their  respective  domin- 
ions. The  pastimes  and  the  splendor  of  chivalry  were  reviv- 
ed. Several  foreign  princes  were  visitors,  and  some  of  them 
were  residents,  in  Philip's  court.  Even  the  proud  Edward 
III.  did  not  disobey  a  summons  to  appear  and  do  homage  for 
his  province  of  Guienne.  But  these  were  still  times  of  igno- 
rance and  credulity.  Robert  d'Artois  was  accused,  and 
believed  to  be  guilty  of  sorcery,  and  capable  of  affecting  the 
health  and  destroying  the  life  of  the  king,  by  torturing  a  wax 
figure  made  in  the  king's  likeness.  Robert  claimed  the  county 
of  Artois,  and  in  consequence  of  a  charge  of  forgery  connected 
with  that  claim,  fled  to  England,  where  he  was  kindly  received 
by  Edward,  and  became  his  counsellor  in  the  designs  which 
Edward  meditated  against  France. 

At  this  time  Philip  was  in  hostility  with  the  Flemings, 
who  had  revolted  under  the  lead  of  a  brewer,  named  Arteveldt. 
Edward  connected  himself  with  them,  and  took  the  brewrer's 
advice7  to  call  himself  king  of  France.  Contentions  for  the 
dominion  of  Brittany  also  arose  between  aspirants  there,  and 
Edward  mingled  also  in  these.  Meanwhile  Philip's  wants 
forced  him  upon  measures  which  were  odious  to  his  subjects. 
He  assumed  the  monopoly  of  salt,  and  sold  it  at  his  own  price, 
requiring  of  all  his  subjects  to  take  it  to  a  certain  extent.  This 
tax  was  long  known  in  France,  as  the  gabelle.  He  had  re- 
course, also,  to  debasing  the  coin,  and  thereby  wrought  the 
greatest  injustice. 

In  1345,  Edward  III.  entered  France  with  a  powerful 
army,  through  Normandy,  accompanied  by  his  celebrated  son, 
Edward  the  Black  Prince,  then  about  fifteen  years  of  age. 
Having  spoiled,  or  laid  waste,  several  towns  along  the  river 
Seine,  in  his  way  towards  Paris,  he  found  his  supplies  defi- 
cient, and,  in  returning,  he  crossed  the  Somme  below  Abbeville, 
to  get  into  a  more  plentiful  country.  At  Crecy  he  was  over- 
taken by  the  army  of  Philip,  and  there,  on  the  25th  day  of 
August,  1346,  was  fought  the  battle  of  Crecy,  so  fatal  to  the 
French.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  the  young  Edward,  in 
the  language  of  that  day,  so  nobly  "  won  his  spurs."  In  the 
following  year,  after  a  siege  of  twelve  months,  Edward  took 
Calais,  which  the  English  held  until    1558.     The  siege  of 

—'■Calais  is  one  of  the  most  memorable  in  history. /it  was  on 

this  occasion  that  six  of  the  citizens  voluntarily  doomed  them- 

■  selves  to  death,  to  save  the  residue.     A  pathetic  scene  is  made 

out  of  this  fact.      It  was  by  the    magnanimity  of  Edward's 

queen,  as  some  writers   suggest,  that  they  were  saved   fron} 

;  execution. 


FRANCE.  239 

In  Philip's  time,  (1349,)  the  large  province  of  Dauphiny, 
which  reaches  from  Avignon  to  Lyons  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Rhone,  and  extends  to  the  Alps  eastwardly,  was  given  to  the 
crown.  Its  childless  donor  bestowed  it,  on  condition  that  the 
oldest  son  of  the  king  should  be  called  the  dauphin,  and  be 
governor  of  the  province.  There  are  editions  of  the  classics 
in. which  the  publishers  commend  them  by  the  suggestion, 
that  they  were  originally  prepared  for  the  use  of  the  dauphin. 
(In  usum  delphini.) 

Philip  and  his  son  John  had  become  widowers.  John  was 
about  to  marry  Blanche,  the  sister  of  the  king  of  Navarre,  of 
the  age  of  seventeen.  When  Blanche  arrived,  the  king  be- 
came the  successful  rival  of  his  son.  In  a  year  he  died,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-seven. 

The  reign  of  John,  from  1350  to  1364,  was  an  afflictive  one 
to  France.  Edward  the  Black  Prince  had  advanced  with 
an  army  from  Guienne,  as  far  as  the  Loire,  intending  to  pass 
to  Calais.  He  was  compelled  to  retreat,  being  met  by  John 
with  an  army  four  times  outnumbering  his  own,  and  compris- 
ing the  most  accomplished  knights  and  nobles  of  France. 
Edward  retreated,  and  having  refused  the  terms  of  surrender, 
one  of  which  was  that  he  should  become  a  prisoner,  a  battle 
was  fought  on  the  19th  of  September,  1356,  at  Poictiers,  about 
fifty  miles  south  of  the  Loire,  and  one  hundred  east  of  the  west 
coast  of  France.  This  was  very  near  the  place  where  the 
Moors,  and  Charles  Martel,  fought  their  battle  in  the  year  737. 
This  was  another  most  disastrous  conflict  to  the  French. 
Such  is  the  fortune  of  battles,  that  John,  instead  of  making 
Edward  a  prisoner,  found  himself  prisoner  to  Edward.  He 
was  carried  to  England,  and  was  a  captive  the  residue  of  his 
life,  eight  years,  though  liberated,  on  parole,  for  four  years. 
He  returned  to  be  a  prisoner,  either  because  he  was  unable  to 
raise  the  means  of  ransom,  or  because  his  son  had  escaped 
from  England,  and  could  not  be  prevailed  on  to  return.  He 
died  in  London.  The  chivalrous  conduct  of  Edward,  towards 
his  captive,  is  commended  by  many  historians,  in  the  highest 
terms. 

The  government  of  France  devolved,  from  the  time  of  John's 
captivity,  on  the  dauphin  Charles,  fifteen  years  of  age,  who 
was  afterwards  the  fifth  king  of  that  name.  The  distress  of 
the  kingdom  was  greatly  increased  by  the  imposition  of  taxes. 
Paris,  now  an  important  city,  and  rilled  with  turbulent  and 
seditious  inhabitants,  openly  rebelled,  and  defied  the  royal 
authority.     They  were  instigated  by  one  of  the  worst  men  of 


240  FRANCE. 

that  depraved  period,  Charles,  king  of  Navarre,  brother-in-law 
of  the  dauphin,  by  marriage  with  a  daughter  of  John. 

The  success  of  the  English,  the  captivity  of  John,  the  feeble- 
ness and  distraction  of  the  French  councils,  under  the  conduct 
of  the  young  dauphin,  were  a  combination  of  evils  beyond 
the  reach  of  remedy.  These  came  not  alone.  Besides  the 
desolation  of  the  country  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  the 
war,  and  the  scarcity  of  food,  approaching  to  famine,  another 
evil  arose,  not  limited  to  the  French,  but  of  which  they  had  a 
full  proportion.  A  pestilence  began  in  the  Levant,  in  1346, 
and  found  its  way  into  Italy.  In  1348  it  appeared  in  France 
and  Spain,  and  next  year  in  Britain.  In  1450  it  desolated 
Germany,  lasting  about  five  months  in  each  country.  In 
Florence,  three  out  of  five  died.  The  effect  of  war  and  pesti- 
lence on  France  is  described  by  Petrarch,  who  was  a  visitor  in 
Paris  in  1360.  "  I  could  not  believe,"  says  he,  "that  this  was 
the  same  country  which  I  had  once  seen  so  rich  and  flourish- 
ing. Nothing  presented  itself  to  my  eyes  but  a  fearful  solitude, 
an  extreme  poverty,  lands  uncultivated,  houses  in  ruins.  Even 
the  neighborhood  of  Paris  manifested,  every  where,  marks  of 
destruction  and  conflagration.  The  streets  deserted,  the  roads 
overgrown  with  weeds,  the  whole  avast  solitude."  (1  vol. 
Hallam's  Middle  Ages,  p.  44.)  * 

Charles,  king  of  Navarre,  surnamed  the  Bad,  possessed  the 
county  of  Evreux  in  Normandy,  by  inheritance  from  his  father. 
An  irreconcilable  enmity  had  arisen  between  him  and  king 
John's  son  Charles.  While  the  king  of  Navarre  resided  in 
his  territory  in  Normandy,  he  was  conveniently  situated  to 
foment  the  seditions  in  Paris,  and  to  promote  the  designs  of 
the  king  of  England.  He  did  both.  The  chief  of  the  turbu- 
lent citizens  of  Paris,  was  one  Marcel,  who  made  himself  suf- 
ficiently conspicuous  to  be  a  subject  of  historical  notice.  From 
his  acts,  and  those  of  his  associates,  it  is  less  surprising  that  the 
scenes  of  horror  which  the  close  of  the  last  century  witnessed, 
in  the  same  city,  should  have  occurred.  Similar  causes,  five 
hundred  years  ago,  produced  similar  atrocities.  Charles  the 
Bad  affected  to  feel  for  the  grievances  which  were  complained 
of,  and  employed  his  influence  and  eloquence  to  urge  on  the 
mob  of  Paris  to  outrage  and  violence.  When  the  dauphin 
Tentured  into  the  city  to  appease  the  tumult,  his  attendants  were 
murdered  in  his  presence.    Charles  asked  Marcel  whether  he 

*  The  nature  of  this  epidemic  has  not  been  described.  Whether  it  was 
like  that  which  is  passing  over  the  world,  is  not  known. 


FRANCE.  241 

meant  to  murder  his  prince.  Marcel  placed  his  own  cap,  (an 
emblem  of  party)  on  Charles's  head,  and  told  him  that  would 
protect  him.  Charles  the  Bad  finished  his  career  in  a  man- 
ner consistent  with  his  life  and  character.  Enfeebled  by  his 
dissolute  habits,  he  was  wrapped  in  a  sheet  which  had  been 
immersed  in  brandy.  This  sheet  took  fire,  and  he  was  burnt 
alive. 

The  sedition  extended  from  Paris  among  the  peasants.  This 
class  of  persons  had  the  common  appellation  of  Jacques  bon 
homme.  (Goodman  James.)  They  embodied  themselves  in 
great  numbers,  and  murdered,  pillaged,  and  destroyed,  in  the 
most  savage  manner.  Three  hundred  ladies  of  rank,  and  the 
duchess  of  Orleans  among  them,  took  refuge  in  the  town  of 
Meaux,  twenty-five  miles  north-east  of  Paris.  Captal  de  Buch, 
a  Gascon  knight  in  Edward's  service,  went  to  their  rescue 
with  a  competent  force,  and  slaughtered  seven  thousand  of  the 
insurgents.  The  like  treatment,  elsewhere,  at  length  subdued 
this  formidable  body.  They  were  known,  from  the  common 
name  above  mentioned,  as  the  Jacquerie.  (1357.)  The  cause 
of  this  insurrection  does  not  appear  to  have  been,  that  senti- 
ments of  rational  liberty  were  entertained  by  the  Jacquerie. 
They  were  provoked  by  the  insolence  and  rapacity  of  the 
nobles,  and  by  their  own  complicated  sufferings,  to  take  ven- 
geance. But  they  struggled  against  a  superior  power,  and 
their  own  atrocities  brought  on  them  the  most  vindictive 
retribution. 

In  1358,  Edward  again  entered  France,  and  moved  wherever 
he  pleased,  unresisted.  He  marched  to  Rheims,  (the  city  in 
which  kings  were  crowned,)  in  the  province  of  Champaigne, 
seventy-five  miles  north-east  of  Paris.  He  appeared,  also, 
before  the  latter  city,  threatened  a  siege,  and  offered  battle. 
The  want  of  provisions  obliged  him  to  retire.  Besides  a 
foreign  enemy,  the  government  had  incessantly  to  contend  with 
the  most  inveterate  factions.  The  experience  of  Edward,  in 
France,  satisfied  him  that  he  could  not  hold  that  country, 
though  he  may  be  said  to  have  conquered  it. 

In  1360  peace  was  made.  Edward  relinquished  his  claim 
to  the  French  crown,  and  to  Normandy.  Charles  ceded  the 
provinces  south  of  the  Loire,  on  the  west  coast  of  France,  from 
that  river  to  the  boundaries  of  Spain ;  and  the  sea-coast,  in  the 
north-west  of  France,  on.  the  English  Channel,  from  Calais  to 
the  river  Somme.  The  disbanded  troops  of  France  formed 
themselves  into  companies  of  robbers,  and  became  more  terri- 
ble than  any  foreign  enemy.  De  Guescelin,  who  was  the 
21 


242  FRANCE. 

military  hero  of  the  time,  embodied  these  companies,  and  led 
them  to  Spain,  to  help  Henry  Transtamare,  natural  brother  of 
Peter  the  Cruel,  to  expel  the  latter  from  the  throne  of  Castile. 
In  this  adventure,  the  sword,  hardships,  and  disease,  disposed 
of  them.  In  their  way  to  Spain,  this  army  of  robbers  passed 
by  Avignon,  the  residence  of  the  pope.  Guescelin  demanded 
of  him  a  large  sum  of  money,  as  the  price  of  sparing  the  city 
from  pillage.  The  pope  gave  them  all  absolution.  This  did 
not  satisfy  their  wants.  The  pope  levied  a  tax  on  the  people. 
Guescelin  would  not  accept  this,  but  demanded  that  the  money 
should  come  from  the  papal  treasury.  The  pope's  authority 
had  long  been  secondary  in  France,  though  much  otherwise 
in  other  countries.  In  the  fourteenth  century  the  church 
makes  a  subordinate  part  in  French  events.  The  residence 
of  the  pope  made  him  far  less  powerful  than  when  enthroned 
in  the  venerable  city. 

Charles  V.  devoted  himself  to  restore  peace  in  his  kingdom, 
and  acquired  the  surname  of  the  Wise.  He  established  the 
principle  that  his  parliament  were  not  to  deliberate,  but  to 
ratify  his  edicts,  and  formally  record  them.  This  ceremony 
was  called  holding  a  bed  of  justice.  It  is  often  alluded  to  in 
modern  times,  even  in  a  republic,  when  legislators  are  so  ser- 
vile as  to  legislate  according  to  the  will  of  a  popular  chief, 
whom  the  blunder  of  suffrage  has  raised  to  power.  Charles's 
principal  merit  was  his  patronage  of  learning.  His  father  left 
him  twenty  volumes;  he  added  nine  hundred,  and  founded  the 
present  library  of  Paris.  This  was  a  great  collection  of 
volumes  before  the  art  of  printing  was  known.  In  his  private 
life  he  is  represented  to  have  been  exceedingly  amiable.  A 
saying  is  ascribed  to  him,  worthy  of  any  age.  It  being  inti- 
mated that  his  consideration  of  learned  men  was  indiscreet,  he 
answered,  "  The  clerks,  (as  the  learned  were  then  called,)  or 
wisdom,  cannot  be  too  much  honored.  This  kingdom  will 
prosper  while  wisdom  is  honored;  when  wisdom  is  banished, 
it  will  fall  to  ruin."     He  died  at  forty-four.     (1380.) 

The  reign  of  Charles  VI.  commenced  when  he  was  of  the 
age  of  twelve,  and  continued  forty-two  years;  part  of  the  time 
he  was  a  minor,  and  most  of  it  insane.  During  thirty-five 
years,  from  1380  to  1415,  France  was  distracted  and  miserable 
from  the  contentions  of  the  princes  of  the  blood  to  rule  the 
kingdom.  These  were  the  dukes  of  Anjou,  Berry,  and  Bur- 
gundy, uncles  of  Charles  VI.,  and  brothers  of  the  late  king ; 
and  the  duke  of  Bourbon,  who  had  married  the  king's  sister. 
In  the  intrigues  and  crimes  which  these  contentions  produced, 


'I 

PRANCE.  243 

distinguished  females,  and  various  partisans,  and  especially 
the  seditious  populace  of  Paris  were  involved.  The  history 
of  these  thirty-five  years  might  make  an  entertaining  volume 
for  those  who  would  read  of  human  nature  under  the  dominion 
of  avarice,  rivalry,  ambition,  malice,  and  revenge — where  no 
sense  of  religion,  no  restraint  of  law  were  known,  and  where 
no  limit  to  action  was  found,  but  in  the  impossibility  of  doing 
what  was  willed  to  be  done.  These  scenes,  and  the  agents  in 
them,  have  passed  away,  leaving  no  consequences  affecting 
the  present  age.  The  historians  of  France  have  devoted  many 
pages  to  these  events.  The  assassination  of  two  of  the  dukes, 
Orleans  and  Burgundy,  and  the  insatiable  vengeance  which 
followed  these,  and  similar  acts,  are  the  principal  subjects  of 
these  pages.  But  the  whole  is  resolved  into  the  details  of  the 
struggle  for  power,  and  into  the  opprobrious  means  resorted 
to  by  all  the  parties. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

Renewal  of  the  war — Henry  V.  in  France — Peace — Marriage  of  Henry  V. 
—His  death — Henry  VI—  Charles  VII. — Maid  of  Orleans— Recovery 
of  his  kingdom  by  Charles  VII. 

In  1415,  Henry  V.  of  England  had  come  to  the  throne. 
The  fame  of  Edward  III.,  and  of  his  noble  and  valiant  son, 
the  Black  Prince,  or  other  motives,  induced  him  to  try  his 
fortunes  in  France.  He  gathered  an  army,  and  was  accom- 
panied by  the  ambitious  and  gallant  nobles  of  England.  He 
landed  on  the  west  coast  of  France,  and  preparation  was  made 
to  meet  him.  The  French  court  suspended  their  contentions 
among  themselves,  to  engage  in  one  much  more  serious.  All 
the  princes  of  the  blood,  (except  the  king,  Charles  VL,  and 
two  dukes,  one  of  them  Burgundy,)  and  the  most  distinguished 
noblemen  of  the  kingdom,  followed  by  a  numerous  army, 
hurried  to  crush  the  audacious  Henry.  The  French  number- 
ed, at  least,  fifty  thousand.  The  English  were  estimated  at 
fifteen  thousand.  The  adverse  parties  met  at  Agincourt,  about 
forty  miles  nearly  south  from  Calais,  on  the  25th  of  October, 
1415.  If  the  history  of  any  battle,  in  all  its  details,  could  be 
admitted  into  these  brief  sketches,  that  of  Agincourt  would  be 
selected.  It  may  be  found  sufficiently  at  length  in  Hume's 
2d  vol.  p.  423.     The  French  were  signally  defeated,  and  the 


244  FRANCE. 

comparative  inferiority  of  Henry's  numbers  obliged  him  to 
make  an  uncommon  slaughter  of  his  enemies,  lest  the  captives 
should  outnumber  their  victors.  The  three  battles  of  Crecy, 
Poitiers,  and  Agincourt,  are  remarkable  events  in  the  history 
of  a  people  who  have  been  eminent  for  skill  and  valor  in  war, 
in  all  ages.  On  the  authority  of  a  French  historian,  the  loss 
of  the  French  was  ten  thousand  killed,  of  whom  nine  thousand 
were  knights,  or  gentlemen.  The  prisoners  nearly  as  many. 
The  loss  of  the  English  only  one  thousand  and  six  hundred. 
The  duke  of  Berry,  the  king's  uncle,  was  present.  He  had 
been  in  the  battle  of  Poitiers,  fifty-nine  years  before.  The  ac- 
counts of  this  battle  vary  in  numbers. 

This  battle  was  a  short  suspension  of  the  feuds  of  the  French 
court.  Henry  was  still  engaged  in  pursuing  his  conquests, 
when,  in  1419,  John  the  Fearless,  duke  of  Burgundy,  was 
murdered  in  the  presence  of  the  dauphin  Charles,  (afterwards 
Charles  VII.,)  and  not  without  the  dauphin's  approbation. 
The  Burgundian  party  immediately  offered  the  French  crown 
to  Henry.  The  treaty  of  Troyes  (a  city  about  ninety  miles 
east-south-east  of  Paris)  was  signed,  whereby  Henry  was  to 
marry  Catherine,  daughter  of  Charles  VI.,  assume  the  regency 
while  the  king  lived,  and  succeed  him,  on  his  decease.  This 
treaty  was  duly  executed.  Thus  France  became  subjected  to 
England,  and  Henry  seems  to  have  had  power  and  good  sense 
enough  to  hold  it  so,  while  he  lived.  But  he  died  in  1422,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-six,  and  his  imbecile  father-in-law  soon  fol- 
lowed him.  Henry  left  an  infant  of  less  than  a  year  old,  who 
was  king  of  England  under  the  name  of  Henry  VI.,  and  actu- 
ally crowned  king  of  France.  But  this  unfortunate  child  was 
no  less  imbecile  than  his  grandfather.  If  his  infirmities  were 
inherited,  the  proudest  achievement  of  the  ambitious  Henry 
was  the  cause  of  the  most  distressing  calamities,  both  to  Eng- 
land and  to  France.  The  two  kingdoms  were  subjected  to  the 
manifold  miseries  of  a  long  minority,  and  a  discordant  regency; 
and  this  sort  of  government  had  to  contend  with  the  most 
vindictive  factions  at  home,  and  the  most  determined  hostility 
in  France. 

The  French  soon  became  sensible  of  their  degradation,  and 
Charles  VII.,  excluded  from  the  throne,  retired  to  the  south, 
and  gathered  around  him  the  few  who  were  devoted  to  his 
support.  He  established  himself  at  Bourges,  in  the  province 
of  Berry,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Paris. 
Here  he  held  his  little  court,  and  was  called,  in  derision,  "  The 
little  king  of  Bourges."     He  seems  to  have  been  capable  of 


FRANCE.  245 

some  heroism ;  but  the  prevailing  tendency  of  his  character 
was  to  pleasure.  He  is  said  to  have  been  roused  to  an  effort 
to  recover  his  kingdom  by  his  favorite,  Agnes  Sorelle,  whose 
name,  Voltaire,  among  others,  has  transmitted  to  modern  times. 
Agnes  appeared  before  him  to  bid  him  adieu,  forever,  saying, 
that  she  was  designed  for  the  associate  of  a  king,  and  was 
going  to  find  one  worthy  of  herself.*  Charles  had  a  difficult 
task ;  he  had  neither  men  nor  money,  and  was  often  distressed 
for  daily  subsistence.  His  opponent  was  the  able  and  accom- 
plished John,  duke  of  Bedford,  brother  of  Henry  V.,  and 
regent  of  France.  John  was  supported  by  the  best  military 
skill  and  valor  of  England,  as  well  as  by  many  persons  in 
France,  of  like  distinction.  Some  cities,  however,  rather  from 
hatred  of  the  English  than  any  attachment  to  Charles,  still 
held  out.  One  after  another  had  been  subdued.  The  last  of 
unsubdued  cities  was  Orleans,  the  ancient  capital  of  France,  in 
the  province  of  the  same  name,  sixty  miles  south-south-west 
of  Paris.  Here  that  wonderful  phenomenon  occurred,  of  the 
salvation  of  a  kingdom  by  the  agency  of  a  country  girl  of 
eighteen  years  of  age,  (Hume  says  twenty,)  suddenly  trans- 
formed into  a  warrior  and  hero  ;  for  she  wore  the  apparel,  not 
of  her  own,  but  of  the  other  sex.' 

Joan  was  born  in  the  village  of  Domremy,  in  the  province 
of  Lorraine,  ten  miles  from  Bar  le  Due,  one  hundred  and  forty 
miles  east  of  Paris,  and  two  hundred  and  twenty  north-east 
from  Bourges,  where  Charles,  at  this  time,  was  residing. 
Great  diligence  has  been  used  to  establish  the  facts  concerning 
this  remarkable  person.  The  means  of  doing  this  were  no 
less  certain  as  to  her,  than  any  other  person  of  that  age.  She 
is  represented  to  have  been  beautiful,  of  delicate  frame,  and  of 
singular  sensibility.  She  was  accustomed  to  solitary  medita- 
tion, and  was  a  religious  enthusiast.  Her  employments  were 
humble  ones ;  that  of  taking  care  of  cattle  was  one  of  them, 
not,  however,  as  a  servant,  as  has  been  said,  but  as  a  member 
of  her  father's  family.     She  asserted  that  she  had  a  vision, 

*  Though  this  agency  of  Agnes  Sorelle  is  repeated  by  successive  his- 
torians, it  is  due  to  that  indefatigable  critic  in  history,  Hallam,  to  say, 
that  he  has  given  very  good  reasons  for  doubting  whether  Agnes  had 
any  such  agency,  or  even  such  relation  to  Charles,  as  has  been  so  often 
affirmed.  Hallam  seems  to  be  of  opinion,  that  if  he  was  under  any 
female  influence  before  Joan  of  Arc  appeared,  it  was  that  of  his  own 
queen.  (Hallam,  vol.  i.  p.  62.)  The  statement  here  made,  is  that  of 
concurrent  historians  before  Hallam  wrote.  Fortunately,  it  is  now  mere- 
ly a  subject  of  curiosity,  who  is  right. 

21* 


246  FRANCE. 

wherein  she  was  commanded  to  raise  the  siege  of  Orleans, 
and  to  conduct  Charles  to  Rheims,  (seventy-five  miles  north- 
east of  Paris,)  to  be  crowned.  When  she  presented  herself, 
she  was  twice  dismissed,  as  a  person  bereft  of  her  senses. 
Returning  a  third  time,  she  was  sent  to  Charles,  who  had 
removed  to  Chinon,  one  hundred  miles  west  of  Bourges,  and 
south-west  of  the  city  of  Tours,  February,  1429.  She  imme- 
diately pointed  out  the  king,  (though  not  distinguished  from 
others  around  him,  by  dress,)  whom  she  had  never  seen.  She 
was  most  thoroughly  examined  during  three  weeks,  and  by 
some  of  her  own  sex. 

Satisfied  with  her  claims,  Charles  confided  her  to  D'Aulon, 
"  the  most  virtuous  man  at  court,"  and  she  was  clad  in  a  male 
dress,  and  armed  from  head  to  foot,  and  sent  with  the  famous 
warrior  Dunois  (called  the  bastard  of  Orleans)  to  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  besieged  city.  She  bore  "the  sacred  banner." 
She  carried  a  sword  which  had  been  taken  from  a  certain 
church,  and  unknown  to  have  been  there  till  she  disclosed  the 
fact.  She  was  several  times  wounded,  but  never  stained  her 
sword  with  blood.  At  sunset,  she  retired  to  the  society  of  her 
own  sex,  and  avoided  all  of  these  who  were,  in  her  view, 
exceptionable.  An  army  often  thousand  men,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Saint  Severe,  Dunois,  and  La  Hire,  with  Joan  among 
them,  forced  themselves  into  Orleans,  with  supplies,  in  April, 
1429.  The  earl  of  Suffolk,  and  the  celebrated  general  Talbot 
commanded  the  English  army.  Frequent  and  successful  sal- 
lies, in  which  Joan  took  a  part,  forced  the  English  from  their 
entrenchments  on  the  8th  of  May,  in  the  same  year.  Several 
places  were  taken,  at  all  of  which  Joan  was  foremost  in  the 
conflict.  At  the  battle  of  Patay,  where  the  able  general  Tal- 
bot commanded,  and  where  Joan  was  present,  the  French  were 
victorious. 

The  English  were  in  possession  of  much  of  the  country 
between  this  scene  of  warfare  and  Rheims  ;  yet  Joan  success- 
fully conducted  Charles  to  that  city,  and  on  the  17th  of  July, 
1429,  he  was  there  crowned,  Joan  performing  the  duties  of 
constable,  and  holding  the  sword  over  the  king's  head.  The 
Maid  of  Orleans  now  considered  her  mission  closed,  and  de- 
sired to  return  to  her  parents,  but  was  induced  to  continue  her 
services.  At  the  siege  of  Paris  she  was  wounded.  In  a  sally 
from  Compiegne,  forty-five  miles  north-east  of  Paris,  she  was 
taken  by  the  Burgundian  allies  of  the  English,  and  was  after- 
wards delivered  to  the  duke  of  Bedford  by  John,  duke  of  Lux- 
emburgh,  for  the  sum  often  thousand  francs.     She  was  accus- 


FRANCE.  247 

ed,  at  the  instigation  of  some  of  her  own  countrymen,  in 
amity  with  the  English,  of  sorcery  and  heresy.  She  nobly 
defended  herself  on  trial,  alleging  that  the  angel  St.  Michael 
was  her  constant  guardian,  and  that  she  had  heard  his  voice 
in  her  father's  garden,  at  the  age  of  fifteen.  She  was  con- 
demned to  death,  but  her  punishment  was  commuted  to  impris- 
onment for  life.  A  new  excitement  having  arisen  against  her, 
this  sentence  was  reversed,  and  on  the  24th  of  May,  1431,  she 
was  burned,  by  a  slow  fire,  at  Rouen,  seventy  miles  north-west 
of  Paris.  The  only  shade  in  the  heroism  of  this  wonderful 
female  is,  that  the  terror  of  condemnation  and  death  are  said 
to  have  shaken  her  fortitude,  at  one  time,  and  to  have  drawn 
from  her  a  confession,  that  the  revelations  she  had  pretended, 
were  the  work  of  Satan.  But  her  fortitude  returned,  and  she 
died  with  a  magnanimity  that  accorded  with  the  tenor  of  her 
life.  Herself  and  family  had  been  ennobled.  There  exist,  in 
France,  several  monuments  of  her.  One  at  Orleans,  one  at 
Rouen,  and  one  at  Domremy,  erected  in  1820.  Some  of  these 
are  said  to  be  faithfully  characteristic.  The  house  in  which 
she  was  born  is  still  pointed  out. 

Charles  is  reproached  for  having  done  nothing  to  rescue 
the  donor  of  his  crown.  The  duke  of  Bedford  and  the  bishop 
of  Winchester  are  also  reproached  for  having  assented  to  the 
cruel  death  of  this  amiable  and  patriotic  enthusiast.  Her 
achievements  have  produced  several  volumes,  in  French,  Ger- 
man, and  English,  both  in  poetry  and  prose.  There  are  also 
several  tragedies,  of  which  Joan  is  the  subject.  That  which 
is  reputed  to  be  entitled  to  the  highest  consideration,  is  Schil- 
ler's (German)  tragedy.  Joan  has  also  been  the  subject  of 
some  celebrated  paintings. 

The  Maid  of  Orleans  is  an  historical  phenomenon,  which 
no  one  has  assumed  to  explain.  Was  she  inspired  ?  Was 
she  a  mere  instrument  in  the  hands  of  others  ?  Was  she  a 
pretender  to  a  divine  commission  ?  Did  she  sincerely  believe 
that  she  had  such  commission  ?  The  first  supposition  is  inad- 
missible. The  second  is  highly  improbable,  for  many  rea- 
sons. She  was  remote  from  the  scene  of  warfare,  and  appa- 
rently unknown,  before  her  presentation  of  herself,  to  all  who 
were  engaged  in  it.  If  she  had  been  a  selected  instrument, 
there  are  obvious  reasons  why  this  fact  should  have  been 
afterwards  disclosed,  and  none  why  it  should  have  been  con- 
cealed. Her  sincerity  and  the  purity  of  her  character  nega- 
tive the  third  supposition.  The  fourth  remains  as  the  only 
one  which  can  be  adopted.     But  this  is  not  an  explanation  of 


248  FRANCE. 

the  effectiveness  of  her  agency.  The  ignorance  and  super- 
stition of  the  age,  probably,  seconded  her  object,  and  may  have 
animated  the  hopes  and  strengthened  the  arm  of  the  French, 
while  the  success  which  accompanied  her  efforts,  dismayed 
their  enemies.  But  the  original  design,  (undoubtedly  her 
own,)  engendered  in  the  mind  of  an  obscure,  uneducated  peas- 
ant girl,  of  becoming  a  warrior,  and  saving  her  king  and 
country,  is  the  singular  fact  which  remains,  as  it  has  ever 
done,  for  the  wonder  of  the  curious. 

The  dissensions  in  England  caused  the  war  in  France  to  be 
feebly  pursued.  The  ally  of  the  English,  the  powerful  duke 
of  Burgundy,  had  become  disgusted  with  them.  Charles 
VII.  was  assiduous  and  successful  in  gaining  him.  By  the 
treaty  of  Arras,  (1437,)  all  the  towns  north  of  the  Somme 
were  ceded  to  the  duke,  and  he  was  discharged  from  the  feu- 
dal ceremonies  of  homage,  as  a  vassal.  Unsuccessful  attempts 
were  made  to  establish  peace  with  England.  In  1444,  a  truce 
was  agreed  on  which  continued  four  years.  In  this  engage- 
ment was  involved  the  marriage  of  Henry  VI.  of  England, 
son  of  Henry  V.  with  the  celebrated  Margaret  of  Anjou,  dis- 
tinguished in  the  civil  wars  of  England.  She  was  a  descend- 
ant of  Saint  Louis,  in  the  eighth  generation  from  him,  and 
great-grand-daughter  of  king  John's  son  Louis,  to  whom  Jane, 
queen  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  bequeathed  her  crown  in  1380. 
Her  father  was  Renatus,  or  Rene,  the  expelled  king  of  Sicily 
and  Naples,  residing  in  Provence,  in  France. 

The  four  years'  truce  enabled  Charles  VII.  to  establish 
order  in  his  kingdom,  and  prepare  himself  for  future  conflicts 
with  his  enemies.  At  this  time,  the  ancient  practice  of  calling 
on  the  feudal  nobles  to  attend  the  king  in  war,  at  the  head  of 
their  vassals,  had  been,  in  a  great  measure,  superseded  by  the 
presence  of  armed  knights,  one  of  the  consequences  of  chiv- 
alry. It  was  also  the  practice  to  employ  foreign  auxiliaries. 
A  body  of  six  thousand  from  Scotland,  and  a  body  of  Swiss, 
were  in  the  service  of  Charles.  He  now  thought  of  creating 
a  standing  force,  and  to  dispense  with  the  call  on  the  nobles  to 
supply  one.  He  formed  companies,  consisting  of  one  hundred, 
under  captains.  He  also  required  of  the  villages  to  furnish, 
each  one,  its  most  expert  archer,  and  m#de  them  subject  to  his 
own  order,  instead  of  that  of  their  own  feudal  lords.  This 
innovation  offended  the  nobles;  but  Charles  persevered,  and 
accomplished  his  object.  This  was  the  beginning  of  standing 
armies  in  Europe. 

In  1449,  the  truce  was  allowed  to  expire;  but  the  conten- 


FRANCE.  249 

lions  of  the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster  had  begun,  and 
the  English  were  too  much  engaged  in  these  to  attend  to  their 
possessions  in  France.  Within  these  possessions,  the  French 
population  were  disaffected  towards  their  foreign  masters,  and 
desirous  of  returning  to  their  native  allegiance.  Charles  re- 
took the  city  of  Rouen,  and  soon  after  the  great  province. of 
Normandy  was  forever  lost  to  the  English.  In  1450,  Gui- 
enne  was  acquired  by  the  French.  Bourdeaux  and  other 
.towns  submitted,  after  the  vain  ceremony  of  causing  proclama- 
tion to  be  made  for  the  English  to  come  to  their  relief.  The 
English  did  send  the  gallant  Talbot,  now  eighty  years  of  age, 
to  recover  Guienne ;  but  he  fell  in  the  attempt.  In  1453,  the 
only  result  to  the  English  of  so  many  years  of  war  and  mis- 
ery, was  the  city  of  Calais,  and  a  small  territory  around  it. 

Charles  had  now  established  an  absolute  dominion  in  his 
kingdom.  He  was  the  sole  depositary  of  legislative  and  of 
executive  power.  He  had  seen  so  much  of  the  turbulence  of 
cities,  that  he  never  resided  in  any  one  of  his  own,  but  pre- 
ferred some  retired  castle.  He  was  continually  apprehensive 
of  being  poisoned  by  his  son,  who  succeeded  him  ;  and,  to 
escape  death  in  this  way,  he  avoided  food  for  so  long  a  time, 
that  when  his  attendants  forced  him  to  take  it,  the  power  of 
digestion  was  already  lost,  and  he  died  in  July,  1461.  Histo- 
rians have  drawn  his  character ;  but  it  is  not  of  sufficient  im- 
portance to  copy  their  opinions. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

THE     REIGN     OF    LOUIS    XI. 

Louis  XI.  is  familiarly  known  to  the  readers  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott's  novels.  He  is  delineated  with  fidelity  in  Quentin  Der- 
ward ;  for,  even  the  descriptive  genius  of  Sir  Walter  could 
not  exaggerate  the  perfidious  and  tyrannical  character  of  Louis. 
The  historical  facts  were  found  in  the  memoirs  of  Philip  de 
Comines.  The  worthiest  as  well  as  the  worst  of  French 
monarchs,  had  their  biographers.  Saint  Louis  has  been  trans- 
mitted by  Joinville,  and  Louis  XI.  by  his  constant  companion, 
Comines.  This  writer  was  born  in  Flanders,  and  served  the 
duke  of  Burgundy,  father  of  Charles  the  Rash,  but  left  this 
service  and  entered  that  of  Louis  in   1472.     He  had  long 


250  FRANCE. 

known  his  new  master,  from  his  transactions  with  the  Bur- 
gundian  court.  Comines  was  one  of  the  best  informed  men  of 
his  time,  and  was  employed  in  many  embassies.  His  account 
of  the  persons  and  scenes  of  his  own  times,  is  received  by  the 
best  historians,  as  worthy  of  entire  credit. 

Louis  disclosed  his  character  at  an  early  period  of  life,  by 
joining  in  the  cabals  against  his  father,  and  by  living  always  in 
enmity  with  him.  It  is  said,  that  he  could  not  conceal  his  joy 
on  hearing  of  his  father's  death.  His  person  was  as  odious  as 
his  disposition ;  his  head  disproportionately  large — his  limbs 
small  and  ill-shaped.  He  had  an  incurable  dislike  of  all  who 
were  distinguished  from  himself  by  comeliness  or  manly  graces. 
He  preferred  the  society  of  the  low  and  the  vulgar.  He  dress- 
ed himself  in  coarse  and  singular  garments.  In  his  cap  he 
carried  a  leaden  image  of  a  Saint,  by  which  he  was  accustom- 
ed to  swear  ;  but  he  considered  no  oath  binding  on  him,  unless 
he  swore  by  St.  Pol.  In  his  last  days,  at  Plessis,  his  taste 
took  another  turn.  Whenever  he  was  visible  to  those  whom 
he  chose  to  receive,  he  was  dressed  in  robes  of  silk,  of  great 
cost,  and  made  by  the  most  skilful  hands ;  but  his  biographer 
thinks  his  motive  was  to  conceal  the  emaciation  of  his  person. 
This  had  become  so  meagre,  that  his  appearance  was  rather 
that  of  a  dead  than  a  living  man.  His  barber,  Oliver,  was 
his  most  intimate  friend,  and  became  his  minister,  and  the  ser- 
vile executor  of  his  master's  malignant  orders.  Oliver  caused 
many  to  be  hung,  but,  in  the  next  reign,  met  with  the  like  fate 
himself. 

The  reign  of  Louis  was  devoted  to  quarrels  with  his  nobles, 
with  the  dukes  of  Burgundy,  with  the  English,  and  with  the 
emperor  of  Germany.  His  measures  raised  the  civil  war,  call- 
ed the  war  for  the  public  good.  He  drew  Edward  IV.,  of 
England,  into  France,  with  an  army  of  15,000  men;  but  by 
bribing  Edward's  ministers,  he  escaped  their  power.  The  duke 
of  Burgundy  also  invaded  France,  and  fought  with  Louis  the 
battle  of  Monthleri.  Peace  was  made  much  at  the  cost  of 
Louis.  In  another  negotiation  with  the  duke  of  Burgundy, 
Louis  discovered  that  his  minister  Balue,  the  son  of  a  tailor, 
whom  Louis  had  caused  to  be  made  a  cardinal,  had  betrayed 
his  trust.  His  clerical  character  saved  him  from  a  halter,  but 
he  passed  fourteen  years  of  his  life  in  an  iron  cage,  in  the  cas- 
tle of  Loches :  his  prison  was  less  than  eight  feet  square. 

That  event  of  his  whole  life,  which  caused  the  greatest  cha- 
grin to  Louis,  is  narrated  by  Comines,  in  all  its  details.  The 
county   of  Leige,  on  the  Rhine,  was  within  the  dominions  of 


FRANCE.  251 

the  duke  of  Burgundy.  Louis  had  favored  a  revolt  there. 
While  this  measure  was  secretly  pursued,  Louis  ventured  to 
visit  the  duke,  at  Peronne,  on  the  Somme,  80  miles  E.  by  N. 
of  Paris,  confiding  in  his  power  to  persuade  the  duke  to  adopt 
his  views  on  some  points  of  difference  between  them.  While 
Louis  was  at  Peronne,  the  revolt  at  Leige  broke  out.  The 
duke  made  a  prisoner  of  Louis,  and  kept  him  three  or  four 
days.  The  result  of  a  negotiation  was,  that  Louis  should  go 
with  the  duke  to  Leige,  and  give  his  personal  influence  to  re- 
store order.  This  was  regarded  as  a  deep  humiliation  by  Louis, 
who  valued  himself  most,  in  being  more  adroit  and  cunning 
than  any  other  man.  His  subjects,  on  the  other  hand,  took 
pleasure  in  his  disgrace,  and  some  of  them  taught  their  mag- 
pies to  utter  the  word  Peronne.  This  was  sometimes  heard  by 
Louis  himself,  who  ordered  the  necks  of  the  magpies  to  be 
wrung.  This  duke  was  Charles  the  Rash,  and  the  character 
of  this  man,  and  the  provocations  of  Louis,  kept  them  in  con- 
tinual warfare.  Many  pages  of  history  are  devoted  to  this 
bitter  contention,  but  its  details  are  foreign  to  the  present  object. 
Louis  embroiled  himself,  also,  with  his  southern  neighbor, 
the  king  of  Arragon. 

The  death  of  Charles  the  Rash,  in  1477,  opened  a  new  field 
for  the  intrigue  and  ambition  of  Louis.  An  opportunity  now 
arose  to  annex  the  extensive  domains  of  Burgundy  to  France, 
by  a  marriage  of  Mary,  the  heiress,  with  the  Dauphin,  though 
Mary  was  of  full  age,  and  the  Dauphin  but  eight  years  old. 
To  accomplish  this,  and  to  prevent  a  marriage  with  any  other 
person,  and  especially  with  any  French  prince,  but  the  Dau- 
phin, was  the  object  of  Louis's  greatest  concern.  He  even 
conceived  the  project  of  possessing  himself  of  the  person  of 
the  princess,  that  he  might  dispose  of  her  to  satisfy  himself. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  his  machinations  produced  a  result 
which  afflicted  Europe  for  centuries,  in  the  union  of  the  prin- 
cess with  Maximilian,  the  son  of  the  emperor  of  Germany. 
This  event,  so  entirely  defeating  the  designs  of  Louis,  produced 
a  war  between  him  and  Maximilian.  In  this  war  the  battle 
of  Guinegate  was  fought,  in  which  the  French  met  with  a  se- 
vere defeat.  The  armed  force  which  Charles  VII.  had  estab- 
lished, was  abolished  by  Louis,  after  this  battle,  and  he  substi- 
tuted a  tax,  wherewith  to  pay  Swiss  auxiliaries.  He  neutralized 
the  English,  in  this  war,  by  bestowing  pensions  on  the  men 
who  governed  their  councils.  Peace  was  at  length  made,  one 
condition  of  which  was,  that  the  Dauphin  should  marry  Mar- 
garet, of  Austria,  Maximilian's  daughter.  This  princess  came 


252  FRANCE. 

to  France,  and  was  educated  there,  in  expectation  of  this  union. 
But  the  Dauphin,  by  Louis's  contrivance,  married  Anne,  of 
Brittany,  to  secure  that  province  to  the  crown;  and  Margaret 
was  sent  home,  as  she  said,  a  widow  before  she  had  been  a  wife. 
By  the  death  of  Rene,  before  mentioned,  Louis  acquired  the 
county  of  Anjou,  and  the  duchy  of  Provence.  He  also  ac- 
quired Rene's  pretensions  to  the  crown  of  Naples  and  Sicily, 
which  proved  to  be  a  cause  of  long-continued  and  disastrous 
wars  to  France. 

With  all  his  discomfitures,  Louis  had  effected  most  of  his  pur- 
poses, and  many  of  them  by  means  which  few  men  but  himself 
would  have  adopted.  The  whole  of  France  was  one  kingdom, 
under  him,  Calais,  only,  excepted.  He  had  humbled  and  brok- 
en down  his  nobles.  He  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  his  rival, 
though  early  friend,  Charles  the  Rash,  wreck  his  fortunes 
against  the  rocks  of  Switzerland.  He  had  the  gratification  of 
hanging  almost  every  man  in  France,  whom  he  feared  or  hat- 
ed. But  his  close  of  life  was  a  scene  of  retributive  justice. 
He  knew  he  had  not,  and  did  not  deserve  the  good  will  of  any 
mortal.  He  had  not  seen  his  son  for  many  years.  He  did  not 
permit  him  to  be  educated,  nor  to  enjoy  the  common  benefits 
even  of  bodily  action,  nor  to  be  even  spoken  to,  but  under  his 
own  regulations.  Tormented  with  fears,  he  shut  himself  up 
at  a  place  called  Plessis,  35  miles  northward  from  the  city  of 
Tours,  and  95  S.  W.  from  Paris.  This  he  fortified,  and  de- 
fended, by  armed  soldiers,  by  day  and  by  night,  with  orders  to 
shoot  down  any  one  who  approached  in  the  night  time.  Mis- 
erable as  life  was,  death  was  terrible  to  him.  He  caused  a 
hermit  to  be  brought  to  him  from  the  extreme  south  of  Italy, 
believing  that  this  illiterate  man  had  power  to  prolong  his  life. 
Though  exacting  the  most  servile  submission  from  all  around 
him,  Louis  believed  his  life  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  Jaques  Coc- 
tier,  his  physician,  and  paid  him  10,000  crowns  a  month,  be- 
sides enduring  his  insolence.  Coctier  said  to  him, — "  Some 
day  you  will  dismiss,  or  disgrace  me ;  but  whenever  you  do 
that,  you  will  die  within  eight  days  yourself."  Comines, 
who  gives  a  minute  account  of  these  latter  days,  remarks, 
that  no  miseries  which  he  had  inflicted  on  others,  equal- 
led those  which  he  endured  himself.  The  30th  of  August, 
1483,  relieved  his  subjects  from  the  dominion  of  Louis.  Not 
a  single  act  of  beneficence  or  improvement  marks  his  reign, 
unless  it  be  the  establishment  of  posts,  (for  the  carriage  of  let- 
ters,) which  is  said  to  have  been  done  by  him. 

His  biographer  says  he  was  the  best  informed  man  of  his 


FRANCE.  253 

time,  as  to  the  persons  and  politics  of  other  countries,  as  well 
as  precisely  acquainted  with  the  character  and  relations  of 
every  man,  of  any  consequence,  in  his  own.  His  memory  was 
most  uncommon,  as  he  depended  on  that  only  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  his  knowledge.  These  characteristics  of  the  ablest 
man  of  that  time  are  described,  not  as  being  those  of  king 
Louis,  who,  merely  as  such,  little  deserves  to  be  remembered; 
but  for  the  reason  that  they  enable  one  to  estimate  the  age  in 
which  he  lived.  Ignorance,  superstition,  and  crime,  mark 
these  times.  One  curious  fact,  as  illustrative  of  the  two  for- 
mer, is,  that  crowds  of  persons  came  to  Louis  to  be  touched  by 
him  as  a  cure  of  scrophulous  disease.  To  qualify  a  king  for 
this  curative  process,  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  purify 
himself,  by  the  confession  of  his  sins.  Comines  says,  that 
Louis  made  his  confessions  every  week,  and  when  the  king  of 
terrors  laid  his  hand  on  him,  he  had  confessed  so  often,  that  he 
had  little  to  add.  As  no  king  of  France,  since  Charlemagne, 
(814,)  had  lived  longer  than  60  years,  Louis  applied  this  com- 
mon duration  to  himself,  and  lived  in  constant  terror  of  its 
completion.     He  exceeded  it  by  about  one  year. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
Charles  VIII— Louis  XII. 

Charles  VIII.  was  15  years  of  age  when  his  father  Louis 
died ;  his  character  is  strongly  contrasted  with  that  of  his  pre- 
decessor. His  person  was  diminutive,  his  understanding  fee- 
ble ;  but  Comines,  (who  is  this  king's  biographer,  also,)  says, 
"  a  better  creature  was  not  to  be  seen."  The  regency  devolved 
(not  without  great  opposition  from  the  heir  apparent,  the  duke 
of  Orleans,)  on  the  wife  of  the  lord  of  Beaujeu,  who  was  Anne, 
daughter  of  Louis,  who  had  so  ordered  in  disposing  of  his 
kingdom.     Beaujeu  was  of  the  house  of  Bourbon. 

The  short  reign  of  Charles,  1483 — 1498,  has  a  two -fold  re- 
lation ;  first,  to  the  internal  affairs  of  France ;  secondly,  to  the 
new  enterprises  which  began  with  him,  the  wars  of  the  French 
in  Italy.  The  first  subject  will  be  noticed  here.  The  second, 
involving  manifold  misfortunes  to  France,  Germany,  Italy,  and 
Sicily,  and  which  continued  through  centuries,  will  more  con- 
veniently come  into  view  in  treating  of  Italy,  the  scene  of  ac- 
tion. 

22 


254  FRANCE,  * 

The  contentions  between  the  lady  Beaujeu  and  the  duke  of 
Orleans,  for  the  regency,  occasioned  an  assembly  of  what  is 
called  for  the  first  time,  the  states  general.  No  such  assembly 
was  held  by  Louis.  It  was  composed  of  the  nobles,  of  the 
clergy,  and  of  the  third  estate,  that  is,  the  delegates  from  towns 
and  cities.  They  are  supposed  to  have  met,  each  order,  in  its 
separate  chamber.  The  state  of  the  kingdom  is  to  be  inferred 
from  the  acts  of  this  assembly.  It  appears  that  the  great  no- 
bles had  lost  their  personal  sovereignty,  and  that  it  had  merged 
in  the  crown.  Their  indemnity  was  a  share  in  the  royal  sove- 
reignty, by  the  enjoyment  of  offices  and  pensions.  Charles 
VII.  must  be  considered  the  founder  of  this  change,  as  the  exi- 
gences of  his  time  enabled  him  to  impose  direct  taxation,  and 
raise  a  revenue  independently  of  the  nobles.  This,  the  nobles 
submitted  to,  as  they  were  not  taxed  themselves.  Louis  XI. 
abolished  the  mode  of  raising  a  military  force,  established  by 
his  father,  but  not  his  system  of  taxation.  He  renewed  the 
feudal  claim  to  military  service.  The  nobles  now  insisted  on 
the  continued  exemption  from  taxes,  and  on  freedom  from  mili- 
tary service,  at  the  head  of  their  vassals.  The  clergij  sought 
a  confirmation  of  the  privileges  of  the  French  church,  and  an 
exemption  from  some  burthens  which  were  still  asserted  by  the 
pope.  The  third  estate  joined  in  these  remonstrances  of  the 
clergy.  They  demanded  to  be  freed  from  arbitrary  taxation, 
and  expressed  a  willingness  to  substitute  grants  of  supplies. 
This  assembly  was  broken  up  without  coming  to  any  conclu- 
sions, by  the  firmness  of  the  lady  Beaujeu,  who  remained  with 
the  authority  of  regent.  A  civil  war,  of  short  duration,  ensu- 
ed. In  this  war  the  province  of  Brittany  took  an  active  part, 
and  the  disposal  of  the  hand  of  its  heiress,  Anne,  became  in- 
volved in  the  contention.  The  result  was,  that  Margaret,  of 
Austria,  who  had  been  affianced  by  Louis  to  Charles,  and  who 
was  actually  in  France,  awaiting  her  wedding  day,  was  sent 
home,  and  Anne  was  married  to  Charles.  This  Anne,  of 
Brittany,  is  a  flower  in  the  desert.  She  was  beautiful,  intelli- 
gent, virtuous,  affectionate,  and  much  reverenced,  though  she 
had  the  defect  of  limping  in  her  gait.  Her  mourning  for  the 
loss  of  her  children  was  so  touching  as  to  be  a  subject  of  his- 
torical remark. 

In  1494,  and  the  following  year,  Charles  was  absent  from 
France  fourteen  months,  on  his  adventurous  expedition  to  Na- 
ples, to  be  elsewhere  noticed.  He  was  engaged  in  this  costly 
and  ruinous  warfare  the  remainder  of  his  days,  but  not  per- 
sonally present.     No  event  occurred -in  France  material  to  be 


FRANCE.  255 

noticed.  Charles  was  disposed  to  magnificence,  especially  in 
building.  His  place  of  abode  was  at  Amboise,  near  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Loire  and  Massee,  12  miles  east  of  the  city  of 
Tours,  and  118  S.  by  W.  from  Paris.  Comines  gives  an  ac- 
count of  his  accidental  death,  and  of  the  splendor  of  his  funer- 
al ceremonies.  He  was  conducting  Anne,  his  queen,  from  her 
apartments,  through  along,  low  passage-way,  to  a  place  where 
the  gentlemen  of  the  court  were  engaged  in  a  game  of  ball. 
Though  Charles  was  very  short,  his  head  came  in  contact  with 
the  wall  of  the  passage,  and  occasioned  an  injury  of  which  he 
soon  died,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  leaving  no  child.  He  was 
the  seventh,  and  the  last,  of  the  kings  of  the  house  of  Valois, 
in  direct  lineal  descent.  The  order  of  succession  through  the 
oldest  son  of  the  royal  princes,  had  been  long  settled.  [1498.] 

The  crown  now  came  to  a  prince  of  the  house  of  Orleans, 
Louis  XII.  This  was  one  of  five  royal  branches  which  arose 
from  the  house  of  Valois,  viz :  Alencon,  Anjou,  Burgundy, 
Orleans,  and  Angouleme,  some  of  which  were  ancient  titles 
renewed.  Louis  XII.  was  grandson  of  the  duke  of  Orleans, 
who  was  murdered  in  1407 — who  was  brother  of  Charles  VI. 
— tvho  was  the  fourth  king  of  the  house  of  Valois.  Louis  was, 
in  person  and  character,  in  all  respects  different  from  his  pre- 
decessor. He  was  of  fine  form,  and  highly  accomplished  in 
the  strength  and  graces  of  knighthood.  In  early  days  he  had 
many  contentions,  and  had  acquired  warm  friends,  and  had 
made  bitter  enemies.  He  had  now  the  power  of  avenging 
himself  on  the  latter.  A  fine  sentiment  is  ascribed  to  him; — 
"  The  king  of  France  must  not  remember  the  injuries  done  to 
the  duke  of  Orleans."  He  had  been  a  lover  of  Anne  before 
she  married  Charles,  and  generously  gave  place  to  him.  He 
had  now  an  opportunity  of  conferring  the  honor  of  sharing 
his  crown — a  measure  of  policy  as  well  as  affection.  He  was 
the  first  king  who  established  the  office  of  prime  minister; 
which  he  filled  by  the  appointment  of  the  cardinal  of  Amboise. 
The  whole  of  the  remainder  of  his  life  was  devoted  to  a  ruin- 
ous warfare  for  dominion  in  Italy.  By  this  he  was  involved 
with  Maximilian,  of  Germany,  popes  Alexander  VI.,  Julius 
II.,  and  Ferdinand  of  Spain,  as  well  as  with  the  republics  in 
the  north  of  Italy.  Successive  disasters  and  disappointments 
mark  the  course  of  the  French  enterprises.  These  will  come 
into  view  more  properly  in  notices  of  Italy. 

An  important  change  was  wrought,  at  this  time,  by  the 
queen.  She  assembled  in  her  court,  the  distinguished  females 
of  the  royal  and  noble  blood,  and  gave  the  first  impulse  to  that 


256  FRANCE. 

dominion  of  her  sex,  so  long  cultivated  and  cherished  in 
France.  However  much  this  was  afterwards  perverted  and 
corrupted,  and  mischievous  as  it  may  have  been  since  Anne's 
time,  in  the  politics  of  France,  under  her  guidance,  it  was  full 
of  benefits.  It  was  the  fountain  of  the  grace  and  polish  which 
eminently  distinguished  France  for  centuries. 

Notwithstanding  the  expensive  wars  of  Louis,  he  is  not 
charged  with  over  burthening  his  subjects.  He  had  recourse 
to  sales  of  the  crown  lands,  to  replenish  his  treasury.  The 
states-general  were  often  assembled  in  his  time.  They  made 
no  progress  in  establishing  their  own  power,  and  limiting  that 
of  the  crown,  as  Louis  gave  them  very  few  occasions  to  com- 
plain. He  was  the  most  popular  of  the  kings  of  France,  since 
the  days  of  saint  Louis,  and  acquired  the  surname  of  Father 
of  his  people.  Historians  dispute  on  his  pretensions  and  true 
character.  In  this,  it  is  useless  to  follow  them.  The  kingdom 
was  in  such  condition  at  this  time,  that  it  might  have  moved  on- 
wards to  constitutional  freedom ;  or  to  absolute  despotism.  The 
latter  was  its  destiny.  Louis  lost  the  excellent  Anne,  and  mar- 
ried Mary,  the  sister  of  Henry  VII.,  of  England,  having  num- 
bered three  times  her  number  of  years.  But  within  a  year  he 
died,  (Jan.  1,  1515,)  at  the  age  of  55,  following  the  rule  of 
dying  before  sixty.  He  appears  to  have  been  most  sincerely 
mourned  by  his  subjects,  which  is  his  best  eulogy. 

Louis  left  no  son,  and  the  crown  went  to  Francis  I.  He 
was  grandson  of  the  duke  of  Angouleme,  who  was  brother  of 
the  father  of  Louis  XII.  This  reign  belongs  to  the  third  and 
last  survey,  intended  to  include  the  three  last  centuries. 

Language.  To  this  time,  (1500,)  and  longjafter,  the  lan- 
guage used  in  courts  of  justice,  in  the  cabinet,  or  public  doc- 
uments, in  the  church,  and  in  treatises,  was  the  Latin.  The 
spoken  language  had  been  of  two  descriptions.  The  langue 
d'oc,  or  provencal,  spoken  in  the  south;  and  the  langue d'oui, 
or  d'oil,  spoken  north  of  the  Loire.  There  are  relics  of  the 
former,  in  the  south,  to  the  present  time  ;  but  the  latter  is  the  basis 
of  the  modern  French.  It  is  a  compound  of  Teutonic,  Frank- 
ish,  Gothic,  and  Roman  words  or  sounds,  blended  by  long  use. 
There  are  many  conjectures  as  to  formation,  and  as  to  the 
singularity  of  having  letters  in  use  in  singing,  and  orthogra- 
phy, which  are  not  articulated  in  conversation.  One  conjec- 
ture is,  that  vowels  were  substituted  for  some  Roman  termina- 
tions, and  afterwards  entirely  dropped,  in  speaking.  This  sub- 
ject is  discussed  by  Sismondi,  in  his  first  volume  of  the  litera- 
ture of  the  south,  and  also  by  Hallam,  at  the  conclusion  of  his 


NORTH-EASTERN    EUROPE.  257 

work  on  the  Middle  Ages.  It  is  not  doubted  that  the  French 
had  been  gradually  forming  throughout  five  centuries,  at  least, 
before  it  was  a  written  language.  It  was  not  until  1635  that 
it  took  its  present  form,  under  the  authority  of  the  French 
academy. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

Northern  and  North-eastern  Europe. 

No  historical  instruction  could  be  drawn  from  the  incessant 
and  bloody  revolutions  from  1000,  to  1500,  which  occurred  in 
these  vast  territories.  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark  were 
geographically  known  in  1500,  as  they  now  are.  Eastwardly 
of  the  Baltic  sea,  and  south-eastwardly  from  the  gulf  of  Fin- 
land to  the  Black  sea,  was  a  territory  as  large  as  France  and 
the  German  empire,  called  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Lithuania, 
now  constituting  a  part  of  the  Russian  dominians.  Eastwardly 
of  Lithuania  were  hordes  of  barbarians.  At  this  time,  Poland 
had  risen  to  the  rank  of  a  kingdom,  within  nearly  the  same 
limits  as  known  in  1800.  On  the  south  side  of  the  Baltic,  and 
between  that  sea  and  Poland,  was  a  territory  which  the  Teu- 
tonic order  of  knights  (to  be  mentioned  in  the  account  of  the 
crusades)  had  conquered,  and  possessed  in  sovereignty.  West 
of  this  territory,  and  North  of  Bohemia,  and  extending  to  the 
Baltic,  was  the  Margrivate  of  Brandenburg,  now  part  of  the 
kingdom  of  Prussia.  The  kingdom  of  Bohemia  has  not  al- 
tered in  its  geographical  limits  since  1500.  It  was  then,  as 
now,  bounded  westwardly  on  Germany,  having  the  duchy  of 
Austria  on  the  south,  which  extended  to  the  Adriatic.  East 
of  this  duchy,  and  south-east  of  Bohemia,  was  the  great  king- 
dom of  Hungary,  extending  nearly  to  the  Black  sea;  and 
south  of  this  kingdom  was  the  Ottoman,  or  Turkish  empire, 
established  in  Europe,  in  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
Hungary  was  north  of  the  Danube.  The  duchy  of  Austria, 
and  part  of  Hungary,  are  now  within  the  Austrian  domin- 
ions. 

Poland,  Hungary,  and  even  Lithuania,  had  been  so  far  civ- 
ilized, and  Christianized,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  thattinstances 
of  intermarriage  had  occurred  between  the  reigning  families  of 
these  countries,  and  those  of  the  west  of  Europe.  Both  the 
22* 


258  NORTH-EASTERN    EUROPE. 

Roman  church  and  the  Greek  church  of  Constantinople,  had 
made  efforts  to  introduce  Christianity  among  the  people  of 
these  territories.  The  Roman  church  presented  its  faith  at 
the  point  of  the  sword,  by  authorizing-  crusades  against  infi- 
dels. Some  of  the  warfare  thus  engaged  in,  has  small  claims 
to  be  considered  as  Christian.  No  such  policy  is  chargeable 
on  the  Greek  church.  It  was  through  the  peaceable  mission- 
aries of  this  church,  that  the  Russians  not  only  became  Chris- 
tians, but  received  the  written  characters  of  the  Greek  alpha- 
bet, which  are  still  in  use  among  them,  though  much  modified 
by  time  and  improvement. 

These  extensive  countries  of  the  north  and  east  of  Europe, 
differed  very  little  from  Germany,  in  the  tenure  of  property,  in 
public  policy,  or  in  the  different  orders  of  society.  There 
were  territorial  sovereigns,  classes  of  nobles,  freed-men,  and 
slaves.  The  latter  class  were,  comparatively,  more  numerous 
than  in  Germany ;  and  there  are  still  slaves  in  these  countries, 
(Bohemia,  Poland,  Russia,  Hungary,)  though,  in  some  degree, 
more  privileged  than  formerly. 

It  may  be  readily  imagined,  from  the  facts  which  have  been 
stated  as  to  other  similarly  constituted  communities,  what  the 
course  of  social  and  political  events  must  have  been  in  these. 
Contentions  and  civil  wars,  to  gain  power  ;  foreign  wars,  from 
cupidity  and  the  desire  of  conquest ;  oppressions  and  miseries 
from  both  causes,  are  the  elements  of  history.  Into  these, 
there  is  no  utility  in  examining.  It  will  be  otherwise  in  the 
three  centuries  following  the  fifteenth.  In  this  time,  kingdoms 
had  arisen,  and  nations  appear,  who  have  taken  an  important 
part  in  the  social  and  political  scenes  of  Europe.  It  should 
rather  be  said,  that  the  ruling  princes  of  these  nations  have 
taken  such  part,  and  that  the  nations,  their  subjects,  have  been 
the  instruments  which  they  employed.  An  iron  despotism  has 
ruled  in  'these  countries.  So  much  religion,  and  so  much 
intelligence,  and  no  more,  have  been  permitted,  as  would  make 
the  vast  multitude  incapable  of  aspiring  to  a  better  condition. 
There  is  some  exception,  as  there  will  be  occasion  to  show, 
especially  in  the  case  of  Poland.  Problems,  political  and 
social,  and  of  most  serious  import  to  the  south  of  Europe,  are 
involved  in  the  future  condition  of  the  many  millions  who 
must  do  something  within,  and  who  may  do  much  beyond, 
these  vast  territories.* 


*  The  curious  in  the  antiquities  of  these  northern  regions  will  find  a 
grateful  satisfaciion  from  the  perusal  of  the  work,  entitled  "  History  of 


GERMANY.  259 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

GERMANY. 

Separation   of  Germany  and  France — Classes  of  People — Elements  of 
German  History. 

Sketches  of  Germany  will  not  amuse  nor  instruct  a  reader, 
unless  he  understand  the  geographical  divisions  of  this  country 
— the  classes  into  which  its  population  was  divided — the  pas- 
sionate cravings  of  these  classes,  and  the  measures  which  they 
respectively  pursued,  to  satisfy  these  cravings.  It  must  be 
kept  in  mind,  that  the  power  which  man  exercises  over  man 
is  founded  in  coercion,  or  mere  physical  force ;  and  that  the 
ameliorated  condition  of  society,  depends  on  the  influence 
which  reason,  directed  by  intelligence,  and  chastened  by  moral 
and  religious  discipline,  can  have  in  making  physical  force 
unnecessary.  The  valuable  lesson  which  history  teaches,  is, 
that  the  propensity  to  action,  inherent  in  man's  nature,  can  be 
directed  to  innocent  and  refining  pursuits  ;  that  just  principles 
of  right  and  wrong  can  be  ascertained,  and  can  be  peaceably 
enforced  by  permanent  laws,  righteously  administered.  In 
passing  through  these  five  centuries,  very  little  will  be  dis- 
cerned of  such  principles,  and  less  of  such  laws  so  adminis- 
tered. But  this  lapse  of  time  must  be  considered,  not  for  the 
reason  that  it  can  be  rendered  amusing,  but  because  it  discloses 
-the  causes  of  the  present  condition  of  German  society. 

The  empire  of  Charlemagne,  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  in 
814,  included  what  is  now  Holland,  Belgium,  France,  and 

the  Northmen,"  by  Henry  Wlteaton,  American  Minister  in  Sweden.  The 
train  of  events  by  which  the  people  of  northern  and  north-eastern  Eu- 
rope settled  into  nations  before  1500,  has  been  shown  by  Koch,  in  his 
account  of  the  revolutions  of  Europe,  a  work  often  quoted  in  these 
pages.  The  same  facts  are  disclosed  (under  various  heads)  in  the  work 
entitled  Encyclopedia  Americana,  edited  by  Francis  Lieber,  assisted  by 
E.  Wigglesworth  and  T.  G.  Bradford.  Published  at  Philadelphia  in 
1832.  This  work  has  been  frequently  resorted  to,  during  this  compila- 
tion. It  is  one  of  the  most  useful  publications  in  the  English  language, 
for  any  and  every  class  of  readers.  It  required  labor  only,  to  have  made 
from  these  and  other  authorities,  sketches  of  nations  in  the  north  and 
east  of  Europe.  But  no  labor  would  have  produced  results  material  to 
the  present  purpose.  After  the  commencement  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
the  Russians,  Swedes,  and  Danes  take  an  active  part  in  European 
affairs. 


260  GERMANY. 

part  of  Spain,  that  is,  to  the  river  Ebro.  From  Holland,  this 
empire  extended  along  the  northern  coast  of  Europe  to  the  Elbe; 
and,  southwardly  from  this  coast,  through  Germany,  Switzer- 
land, and  Italy,  to  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  excepting  only  the 
states  of  the  Roman  church,  in  the  vicinity  of  Rome.  Within 
100  years  after  the  decease  of  Charlemagne,  his  feeble  descend- 
ants had  disappeared.  In  the  year  888  a  diet  was  held,  com- 
posed of  princes,  nobles,  and  dignified  ecclesiastics.*  Charles 
the  Fat  was  solemnly  deposed  by  this  diet,  so  far  as  his  sove- 
reignty included  any  part  of  Germany.  The  same  diet  pro- 
claimed Arnulf  to  be  king  of  Germany.  The  two  countries, 
France  and  Germany,  were  thus  separated,  Charles  continu- 
ing to  be  king  in  France.  The  French  crown  became  hered- 
itary, and  so  continued  to  be  till  the  French  revolution.  The 
crown  of  Germany  became  elective,  and  so  continued  to  be 
until  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  under  Napoleon.  The 
successor  of  Arnulf,  in  Germany,  was  Louis  III.,  who  died  in 
912.  He  was  the  last  of  the  family  of  Charlemagne  who 
have  found  a  place  in  history. 

When  Germany  became  a  separate  monarchy,  in  888,  it 
comprised  numerous  principalities,  dukedoms,  and  small  states. 
These  sovereignties  had  become  hereditary.  Many  of  the 
sovereigns  were  bishops  and  archbishops,  having  extensive 
domains.  There  were  four  principal  nations,  those  of  Swabia, 
Bavaria,  Franconia,  and  of  Lorraine ;  afterwards,  that  of  Sax- 
ony was  added.  There  were  three  great  archbishops,  who 
appear  prominently  in  German  history,  of  the  cities,  respec- 
tively, of  Mentz,  (or  Mayence,)  Treves,  and  Cologne.  For 
the  better  understanding  of  localities,  the  city  of  Mentz,  in 
which  the  emperors  were  usually  crowned,  is  assumed  as  a 
central  point.  All  other  places  will  be  ascertained  by  refer- 
ence to  this  city.  Mentz  is  on  the  west  side  of  the  Rhine,  in 
50°  north  latitude ;  8°  east  longitude.  It  is  distant  from  Paris 
two  hundred  and  eighty  miles,  in  a  direction  nearly  north- 
east. It  is  two  hundred  miles  directly  west  of  the  west  line  of 
Bohemia.  From  Mentz,  the  city  of  Frankfort  on  the  Maine 
is  twenty  miles  east ;  the  city  of  Treves,  fifty  miles  west ;  the 
city  of  Cologne,  ninety  miles  (down  the  Rhine)  north-west. 
Germany  included  a  large  extent  of  territory  on  the  west  of 
the  Lower  Rhine,  called  Lorraine.  The  duchy  of  Swabia, 
including  many  subdivisions,  was  east  of  the  Upper  Rhine, 

*  The  word  diet,  common  in  German  history,  is  said  to  be  derived 
from  the  Latin  word  dies,  (day,)  used  in  reference  to  the  time  of  assem- 
blirg. 


GERMANY.  261 

north  of  Switzerland,  west  of  Bavaria,  and  south  of  Franco- 
nia.  Bavaria  extended  eastwardly  from  Swabia  to  the  modern 
Austrian  dominions.  Franconia  was  north  of  Swabia  and 
Bavaria,  extending  from  the  Rhine  to  Bohemia.  North  and 
north-east  of  Franconia  was  the  Saxon  territory,  to  the  Elbe. 
North  and  north-west  of  Saxony,  were  numerous  small  states, 
in  the  country  since  known  as  Westphalia,  and  extending  to 
the  North  Sea.  Aix-la-Chapelle,  the  residence  of  Charle- 
magne, was  between  the  Meuse  and  the  Rhine,  about  twenty- 
five  miles  nearly  west  of  Cologne,  and  about  one  hundred 
nearly  north-west  from  Mentz. 

The  materials  of  German  history  appear  to  have  been  codes 
of  laws,  made  by  these  different  nations,  (from  which  the  state 
of  society  has  been  deduced  by  indefatigable  examiners,)  and 
public  records  and  chronicles,  written  by  ecclesiastics.  These 
sources  of  information  have  been  explored  by  S.  A.  Dunham, 
in  his  History  of  the  Germanic  Empire ;  by  Hallam.  in  his 
History  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  and  especially  by  Michael  Ig- 
natius Schmidt,  (born  in  Wurtzburgh,  in  1736,)  the  first  who 
undertook  an  elaborate  history  of  the  German  nation,  and  "  to 
show  how  the  German  nation  became  what  they  are."  It  is 
intended,  in  these  sketches,  to  conform  to  these  and  other  au- 
thorities, but  without  the  labor  of  quoting  them,  as  they  can  be 
consulted  for  themselves. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  eleventh  century,  all  the  land 
in  western  Europe,  that  had  been  taken  possession  of  on  the 
fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  had  been  divided  according  to  the 
forms  of  feudal  right.  The  whole  of  Germany,  as  held  by 
Charlemagne,  was  divided  into  great  domains  or  estates,  held 
by  princes,  dukes,  and  nobles  of  various  grades,  and  by  pre- 
lates of  the  Roman  church.  The  tenants  of  these  domains 
were  lords  in  relation  to  all  classes  of  inferiors,  while  they 
were,  themselves,  vassals  of  the  emperor.  In  this  character 
they  were  bound  to  furnish  a  military  force,  from  their  own 
vassals,  and  to  lead  them  to  the  service  of  the  emperor.  2. 
There  was  a  numerous  class  of  inferior  nobles,  whose  only 
vocation  was  military  service,  and  who  were  not  landed  pro- 
prietors, but  who  were  maintained  or  paid  by  the  great  nobles. 
3.  There  were  some  free  men,  few  (it  is  supposed)  in  number, 
who  had  acquired  an  allodial  or  absolute  ownership  of  land, 
but  who  were  yet  subject  to  military  duties.  4.  The  freed- 
men,  who  had  been  liberated  either  by  the  voluntary  act  of 
their  owners,  or  who  had  purchased  freedom  in  some  manner. 
5.  The  slaves,  numerically  by  far  the  greater  portion  of  the 


262  GERMANY. 

Germans,  who  were  bound  to  personal  service  to  their  mas- 
ters, or  to  the  land,  and  who  were  too  degraded  to  be  recog- 
nized as  having  any  civil  rights.  These  slaves  were  such 
from  birth,  or  from  being  captives  in  war,  or  by  some  forfeit- 
ure, or  by  purchase. 

If  to  these  elements  it  be  added,  that  the  nobles  were,  in 
general,  destitute  of  all  literary  occupation;  that  the  clergy 
were,  with  few  exceptions,  alike  ignorant;  that  religion  con- 
sisted of  superstitious  forms  and  ceremonies ;  that  there  were 
no  commercial  pursuits;  that  the  church  dignitaries  were 
warriors  as  well  as  ministers  of  religion ;  that  none  of  these 
higher  orders  labored  to  supply  their  own  wants,  these  being 
supplied  by  the  labor  of  slaves — it  follows,  that  the  state  of  soci- 
ety may  have  been  exceedingly  depraved  and  miserable.  It 
is  so  represented  to  have  been.  These  territorial  sovereigns 
declared  war  against  each  other;  they  coined  money,  and 
administered  justice,  as  they  saw  fit.  Secured  in  their  im- 
pregnable castles,  built  in  elevated  places,  their  warfare  con- 
sisted in  the  most  relentless  devastation  of  the  territories  of 
their  enemies.  When  not  thus  employed,  they  were,  in 
general,  robbers,  and  preyed  upon  travellers,  or  their  neigh- 
bors ;  or  they  were  engaged  in  hunting,  or  in  drunken  festivals. 
An  oath  was  usually  exacted  from  the  emperors,  that  they 
would  abstain  from  intoxication.  Instances  of  brutal  violation 
of  person  and  property,  frequently  occur  in  the  history  of  this 
people.  Their  festive  assemblies  often  ended  in  bloodshed,  as 
they  never  met  unarmed.  Drunkenness  acquired  the  name 
of  the  Teutonic  vice.  As  very  little  is  said,  in  these  ancient 
chronicles,  of  the  condition  of  women,  it  might  be  inferred  that 
their  moral  condition  was  as  degraded  as  that  of  the  other  sex. 
But  it  seems  to  be  admitted,  that  in  some  of  these  nations,  the 
eulogy  bestowed  on  German  females  by  Tacitus,  was  well 
deserved;  and  that  the  conduct  which  called  it  forth,  continued 
to  be  observed.  It  is  not,  however,  to  be  denied,  that  the 
private  life  of  the  Germans  is  much  more  a  matter  of  inference, 
than  of  established  fact.  Enough  is  known  to  demonstrate 
that  it  was,  at  the  end  of  the  tenth  century,  a  period  of  gross 
immorality,  violence,  and  crime. 

Among  such  a  people  an  elected  monarch,  invested  with  a 
superior  dignity,  and  elected  usually  from  among  the  dukes, 
must  often  have  attained  to  his  high  honors  against  the  will  of 
many  whom  he  had  the  right  to  rule.  The  effects  of  disap- 
pointments, envyings,  jealousies,  and  malice,  in  various  forms, 
were   experienced   by  many  of  the  emperors.      Formidable 


GERMANY.  263 

rebellions  frequently  occurred,  and  in  many  instances  were 
conducted  by  the  brothers,  and  even  the  sons,  of  the  reigning 
monarch.  The  accidental  elevation  to  the  throne  was  fre- 
quently availed  '  to  aggrandize  the  royal  family,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  a  rebellious  vassal  who  had  been  subdued,  and  his 
estates  forfeited ;  and  attempts  were  frequently  made,  and  some- 
times successfully,  to  perpetuate  the  royal  dignity  in  the  same 
family.  As  Charlemagne  had  been  crowned  in  800  by  the 
pope  in  Rome,  and  had  assumed  to  revive  the  Roman  empire 
of  the  West,  and  to  extend  his  dominions  over  all  that  belonged 
to  that  empire,  including  Italy,  so  his  successors  assumed  a 
correspondent  extent  of  power,  and  vainly  endeavored  to  con- 
quer, and  to  hold,  the  turbulent  states  of  the  north  of  Italy.  A 
large  portion  of  historical  details  is  devoted  to  the  ruinous 
warfare  carried  on  by  emperors  against  these  states. 

Along  the  whole  extent  of  the  northern  and  eastern  bounda- 
ry of  Germany  were  hordes  of  barbarians,  (the  Bohemians, 
Silesians,  Danes,  Moravians,  Avars,  Sclavonians,  and  Hunga- 
rians, among  others,)  who  were  constantly  engaged  in  preda- 
tory warfare  against  the  Germans.  That  frontier  was  never 
safe  from  these  enemies.  German  history  includes  the  details 
of  this  warfare. 

That  subject  which  includes  a  more  extended  narration  than 
any  of  the  foregoing,  or  than  all  of  them,  is  the  almost  inces- 
sant contention  between  the  emperors,  and  the  popes  of  Rome. 
On  the  one  hand,  the  popes  sought,  by  the  exercise  of  spiritual 
authority,  to  overawe,  subdue  and  control  the  temporal  power; 
on  the  other,  the  emperors  sought  to  limit  and  control  that 
authority.  In  these  conflicts  the  emperors  had  to  encounter 
the  most  daring  usurpations  of  the  popes.  The  influence  of 
the  priesthood,  throughout  all  Christian  states,  was  often 
stronger  than  the  utmost  force  of  temporal  authority.  The 
ignorance  and  superstition  of  the  people  of  Germany,  without 
distinction,  among  all  the  laity,  adapted  them  to  the  despotism 
which  the  ecclesiastics  had  established  and  maintained.  A 
mere  verbal  denunciation  of  a  reigning  prince,  by  the  tenant 
of  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome,  was  sufficient  to  discharge 
all  the  subjects  of  that  prince  from  allegiance,  and  even  to 
make  it  criminal  to  obey  him.  The  nature  and  causes  of  this 
ecciesia        .     j  i  •  will  be  shown  in  tiie  sketches  of  the 

Roman  church,  in  a  future  chapter. 

It  is  inconsistent  with  the  design  of  these  brief  sketches  to 
enter  into  these  various  details.  It  is  intended  to  select  the 
important  events  that  illustrate  the  great  changes  which  have 


264  SUCCESSION    OF    EMPERORS. 

occurred,  and  which  have  led  to  the  present  state  of  the  world. 
Nor  is  it  intended  to  dwell  on  the  personal  qualities  of  the 
successive  emperors,  any  further  than  these  may  tend  to  the 
same  illustration.  Some  of  the  emperors  will  be  seen  to  have 
been  wholly  unworthy  of  the  trust  confided  to  them,  either 
through  imbecility,  vice,  or  usurpation.  This  will  not  be 
surprising  to  those  who  have  observed  the  character  of  the 
elected  to  the  most  important  offices,  even  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  among  "  the  most  enlightened  people  of  the  earth." 
The  following  table  of  the  succession  of  German  emperors 
will  serve  as  a  chronological  index,  from  the  first  German 
monarch,  to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

Succession  of  Emperors. 

Table  of  emperors  from  the  separation  of  France  and  Ger- 
many in  888,  to  1519. 

Arnnlf  nephew  of  Charles  the  Fat         -         -  888  to  899 

Louis  III.,  last  of  Charlemagne's  descendants  899  "  912 

Conrad  I,  duke  of  Franconia,  elected    -         -  912"  918 

House  of  Saxony. 

Henry  L,  the  Fowler 918  "  936 

Otho  I,  the  Great,  son  of  Henry    -         -         -  936  "  973 

Otho  IL,  son  of  Otho  I.         -         -         -         -  973  "  983 

Otho  III.]  son  of  Otho  II.       -  983  "  1002 
Henry  II,  (called  Saint,)  duke  of  Bavaria,  and 

great-grandson  of  Henry  I.  (fowler)        •  1002  "  1024 

House  of  Franconia. 

Conrad  II,  called  the  Salique         -         -         -  1024  "  1039 

Henry  III,  the  Black    -         -         •         -         -  1039  "  1056 

Henry  IV.  (contemporary  with  Gregory  VII.)  1056  "  1106 

Henry  V. 1106  "  1125 

Lothaire  II,  duke  of  Saxony          -         -         -1125"  1138 

House  of  Swabia. 

Conrad  J/J.  (Guelfs  and  Ghibelines  first  appear)  1138  "  1152 

Frederick  I.,  Barbarossa,  (red  beard,)      -         -  1152  "1190 

Henry  VI. 1190  "  1197 

Philip,  duke  ofSuabia           ....  1197  "  1208 

Otho  IV.,  duke  of  Brunswick         -         -        -  1208  "  1212 


GERMANY.  265 

Frederick  II,  king  of  Sicily  -         -         -         -     1212  to  1253 

Conrad  IV 1253  "  1254 

William,  count  of  Holland     -         -  -     1254  "   1256 

Richard,  earl  of  Cornwall,  brother  of  Henry 

III.  of  England 1256  "   1271 

House  of  Haps  burgh. 
Rodolph  I,  the  Merciful         ....     1273  "  1291 

Adolphus  of  Nassau 1291  "   1298 

Albert  I 1298  "  1308 

Henry  VII.  of  Luxemburg  -         -         -     1308  "   1314 

Frederick  III  of  Austria        ....     1314  "  1314 

Louis  V. 1314  "   1347 

Charles  IV. 1347  "  1378 

Wincelas,  king  of  Bohemia  -         -         -     1378  "   1400 

Robert 1400  "   1410 

Sigismund 1410  "   1438 

Hereditary  emperors  of  the  house  of  Austria. 

Albert  II. -     1438  "   1440 

Frederick  IV        -         -         -         -         -         -     1440  "  1493 

Maximilian  I. 1493  "   1519 

Charles  V.  king  of  Spain        -         -         -         -     1519 

No  events  occurred  in  the  time  of  Arnulf,  Louis  III.,  or 
Conrad  I.,  which  require  to  be  noticed.  The  civil  wars  and 
rebellions  of  this  time,  led  to  no  permanent  consequences. 
The  reign  of  Henry  I.,  the  fowler,  918  to  936,  was  perplexed 
with  revolts  which  he  was  able  to  quell.  Having  done  this, 
he  devoted  himself  to  subdue  the  barbarous  nations,  (if  so,  they 
should  be  called,  compared  with  Germans,)  on  his  eastern 
frontier.  The  Hungarians,  Danes,  Sclavonins,  and  Bohe- 
mians, were  made  to  feel  his  superiority  in  arms.  They  were 
driven  back,  and  were  glad  to  seek  a  respite  in  peace.  The 
military  force  of  the  empire  was  much  improved  under  him. 
At  this  time,  there  were  no  cities  in  Germany,  except  on  the 
Rhine.  A  measure,  designed  only  for  defence,  was  instituted 
by  him,  which  led  to  most  important  consequences.  He  re- 
quired that  every  ninth  person  among  his  male  subjects  should 
dwell  in  a  fortified  place,  capable  of  resisting  the  incursions  of 
the  barbarians ;  and  that  these  should  be  sufficiently  spacious 
to  receive  such  of  the  neighboring  peasantry  as  could  take 
refuge  in  them,  in  any  case  of  emergency.  Privileges  and 
benefits  were  granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  these  places.  Such 
was  the  origin  of  many  of  the  German  cities.  The  territorial 
sovereigns,  as  well  nobles  as  ecclesiastics,  perceiving  the  utili- 
ty of  this  measure,  followed  this  example,  and  established 
23 


266  GERMANY. 

towns  within  their  domains.  The  natural  consequence  of  this 
close  association,  was,  the  fostering  of  industry  and  social 
improvement.  The  inhabitants  became  able  and  willing  to 
minister  to  the  wants  of  the  emperors.  Their  personal  aid 
and  contributions  in  counteracting  the  turbulence  of  the  nobles, 
obtained  for  them  enlargement  of  privileges.  The  growth 
and  importance  of  the  cities  enabled  them  to  claim  the  right  of 
being  represented  in  the  national  assemblies.  They  at  length 
appear  as  the  third  estate  in  the  empire — the  nobles  and  the 
clergy  constituting  the  first  and  second.  It  will  be  seen,  in 
future  pages,  how  important  the  cities  became,  in  the  progress 
of  improvement;  a  consequence  which  could  not  have  been 
within  the  design  of  Henry. 

On  the  west  of  the  Rhine,  Henry  added  Lorraine  to  the 
German  dominions,  as  a  domain  of  the  crown.  In  his  north- 
eastern conquests  (931)  he  acquired  the  territory  known  as 
Brandenburg,  and  established  there  a  separate  government, 
dependent  on  the  empire.  This  became  a  duchy,  and  was 
the  foundation  of  the  modern  kingdom  of  Prussia.  He  also 
annexed  Mesnia  to  the  empire,  which  is  the  present  kingdom 
of  Saxony,  having  Dresden  for  its  capital.  He  also  recovered 
from  the  Huns  the  territory  of  Austria,  which  now  forms  part 
of  the  Austrian  empire. 

The  election  of  Otho  I.,  who  is  called  the  Great,  is  deserv- 
ing of  a  special  notice.  Aix  la  Chapelle  was  the  place  of 
election,  and  the  electors  were  a  diet.  The  (power  of  conse- 
cration, after  some  dispute,  was  allowed  to  the  archbishop  of 
Mentz.  The  three  archbishops  of  Mentz,  Treves,  and  Cologne, 
dined  at  the  same  table  with  the  emperor.  The  duke  of  Lor- 
raine served  as  grand  chamberlain ;  the  duke  of  Bavaria,  as 
grand  marshal ;  the  duke  of  Swabia,  as  grand  cupbearer;  and 
the  duke  of  Franconia,  as  grand  seneschal;  (steward.)  Here 
were  seven  dignitaries,  who,  in  the  course  of  time,  arrived  at 
the  high  trust  of  electing  the  emperor,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
nobles  and  the  diets. 

Otho  I.  was  a  successful  warrior,  as  appears  from  his  con- 
quest of  Bohemia,  his  warfare  in  Italy,  and  with  France ;  and 
from  his  reduction  of  rebels,  some  of  whom  were  of  his  own 
family.  He  was  crowned  king  of  Lombardy,  at  Pavia,  (with 
the  iron  crown,*)  in  951 ;  king  of  Italy  in  961 ;  and  emperor, 
by  pope  John  XII.,  in  962.     John  promised  Otho  that  the 

*  The  iron  crown  of  Lombardy  was  said  to  have  been  made  out  of  a 
nail  (or  nails)  taken  from  the  holy  cross. 


GERMANY.  267 

popes  should  be  chosen  in  presence  of  a  commissioner  appoint- 
ed by  the  emperors;  but  John  revolted  from  this  engagement. 
Otho  went  to  Rome,  deposed  John,  and  caused  Leo  VIII.  to 
take  the  papal  chair.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  long- 
continued  controversies  between  the  popes  and  emperors. 
With  this  monarch  originated  the  title  of  king  of  Rome ;  he 
caused  his  son  to  be  crowned  by  that  title,  and  it  was  borne 
afterwards  by  German  monarchs,  when  elected  in  the  life-time 
of  a  -reigning  prince.  It  was  the  common  title,  until  the 
elected  sovereign  was  duly  crowned  as  emperor,  by  the  popes. 
The  reigns  of  Otho  II.  (973— 983)  and  Otho  111.(983—1002) 
wrere  involved  in  troublesome  rebellions,  and  more  troublesome 
and  costly  wars  in  Italy.  It  is  the  common  remark  of  histo- 
rians, that  the  passion  which  most  of  the  German  monarchs 
had  to  conquer  and  rule  over  Italy,  was  the  cause  of  sacrificing 
numerous  armies,  and  of  grievous  afflictions  to  Germany. 
But  it  is  to  be  considered  whether,  as  society  was  at  this  time 
constituted,  greater  evils  might  not  have  occurred  in  Germany 
from  the  contentions  and  wars  in  which  those  who  fell  in  Italy 
would  have  engaged  among  themselves,  if  they  had  not  been 
drawn  away  to  other  employments. 

Henry  II.  (1002 — 1024)  obtained  the  honor  of  canonization, 
and  is  called  saint  Henry,  and  would  have  made  a  worthy 
ecclesiastic.  He  had  a  full  share  of  the  natural  perplexities  of 
the  age,  at  home  and  abroad.  He  was  the  last  of  the  race  of 
Henry  the  Fowler.* 

During  the  reign  of  these  five  Saxon  princes,  one  hundred 
and  six  years,  the  German  monarchy  had  acquired  strength, 
and  had  extended  its  dominions  towards  the  east.  But  this  is 
the  period  in  which  human  life  was  more  miserable  than 
before,  or  afterwards.  Historical  details  are  full  of  instances 
of  shocking  depravity,  violence,  and  crime.  This  was  the 
time,  especially,  in  which  right  and  wrong  were  ascertained 
by  ordeals  and  duels. 

On  the  death  of  Henry  II.,  the  archbishop  of  Mentz  assem- 
bled a  diet  on  the  plains  which  lie  on  both  sides  the  Rhine, 
between  Mentz  and  Worms.  The  city  of  Worms  is  on  the 
same  side  of  the  river,  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Mentz.  Fifty 
thousand,  comprising  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  princes,  and 
their  followers,  were  at  this  meeting.     The  princes  and  nobles 

*  In  the  first  volume  of  Dunham's  History  of  the  Germanic  Empire, 
there  is  an  elaborate  commentary  on  the  social  and  political  condition  of 
Germany  during  the  tenth  century.  It  deserves  the  study  of  those  who 
desire  to  be  well  informed. 


268  GERMANY. 

met  on  an  island  to  deliberate,  and  select  a  candidate;  the 
choice  fell  on  Conrad  of  Franconia.  On  this  occasion,  the 
division  of  the  several  orders  of  persons  composing  one  of 
these  German  nations,  is  first  mentioned.  They  advanced  to 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  in  classes,  distinguished  by  bucklers 
or  shields.  German  scenes  undergo  no  change  in  the  time  of 
Conrad  II.,  1024 — 1039,  nor  in  that  of  his  successor,  Henry 
III,  1039 — 1056.  The  transactions  of  these  monarchs  in 
Italy,  belong  to  notices  of  that  country. 

Henry  IV.  was  successor  of  his  father  at  the  age  of  six 
years,  and  reigned  fifty.  This  long-continued  power  was 
exercised  to  the  mutual  disadvantage  and  affliction  of  prince 
and  subjects.  The  prince  was  a  monster  in  depravity,  and  his 
subjects,  in  general,  were  of  the  same  order  of  moral  agents. 
Factions,  insurrections,  and  rebellions,  are  the  principal  events. 
Henry  was  dethroned  by  one  of  his  own  sons,  and  reduced  to 
such  poverty  as  to  seek  a  very  humble  office  in  a  cathedral 
which  he  had  built ;  but  it  was  denied  to  him.  This  is  the 
same  emperor  who  drove  the  pope  Gregory  VII.  from  his 
throne;  but  who  afterwards  submitted  to  a  most  humiliating 
penitence  before  that  audacious  pontiff'  The  bitter  conflicts 
between  these  two  persons,  belong  to  the  notices  of  the  church 
of  Rome.  It  will  there  be  seen  what  was  the  origin  and  the 
effect  of  the  wars  between  the  emperors  and  popes,  which 
began  under  Henry,  and  continued  about  seventy  years. 

The  reign  of  Henry  V.,  1106 — 1125,  was  taken  up  with 
rebellions  and  commotions  in  his  own  dominions,  or  in  con- 
tinuing the  warfare  with  the  popes.  The  former,  we  pass 
over ;  the  latter  belongs  to  another  place. 

In  the  election  which  followed  Henry's  death,  there  was  an 
assembly  at  Mentz,  in  which  one  more  step  was  made  towards 
an  independent  electoral  college.  Ten  princes  were  selected 
to  exercise  the  right  of  pretaxation,  which  word  is  used  to 
signify  the  nomination  of  persons,  from  among  whom  a  choice 
was  to  be  made.  Lothaire,  duke  of  Saxony,  was  elected. 
Excepting  the  events  in  Italy,  there  is  nothing  to  notice  in  his 
reign,  which  lasted  from  1125  to  1138. 

At  this  time,  the  people  of  Germany,  exclusive  of  slaves 
and  freedmen,  were  thus  classed:  1.  The  dukes.  2.  The 
ecclesiastical  princes,  consisting  of  bishops  and  abbots.  3. 
The  secular  princes,  comprising  territorial  officers  under  the 
names  of  landgraves,  margraves,  and  counts.  4.  Territorial 
nobles,  by  hereditary  right,  and  who  were  independent  of  the 
great  feudatories.     5.  The  high  court  officers,  as  well  those 


GERMANY.  269 

who  were  of  the  ducal,  as  of  the  imperial  courts.  6.  The 
body  of  freemen.  These  were  the  six  bucklers,  which  had 
the  right  of  assembling  in  diets ;  but  only  the  first  three  are 
supposed  to  have  debated  and  voted.  Military  service  was 
the  duty  of  all  these  classes.  The  clergy  granted  their  do- 
mains to  vassals,  who  performed  this  service,  or  they  per- 
formed it  personally. 

The  right  of  declaring  war  was  vested  in  the  diets;  and 
each  prince  was  sworn  to  produce,  at  the  proper  time  and 
place,  his  proportion  of  armed  men.  The  princes  could  not 
perform  this  obligation,  in  regard  to  knights,  (who  were  a 
necessary  part  of  the  force,)  without  an  advance  of  money  and 
of  equipments  to  them.  Hence,  the  wars  were  burthensome, 
and  iiable  to  sudden  and  distressing  reverses.  The  state  of 
society  is  supposed  to  have  been  exceedingly  irregular  from 
the  undefined  and  conflicting  authority  of  the  emperors  and 
dukes,  and  from  the  ignorance  of  right  and  wrong,  or  the 
utter  disregard  of  all  moral  and  social  duties.  It  was  a  state 
of  anarchy,  in  which  none  but  the  strongest  were  safe. 

The  election  of  Conrad  III.  (1138 — 1152)  occasioned  civil 
and  social  evils,  which  were  prolonged  through  centuries,  both 
in  Germany  and  Italy.  This  election  was  offensive  especially 
to  Henry  the  Proud,  duke  of  Saxony  and  Bavaria,  son-in-law 
of  Lothaire  II.  If  the  diet  which  had  elected  Conrad  had 
been  held  by  all  the  electors,  and  those  only  who  should  have 
been  present,  Henry  might  have  been  elected.  Conrad,  dread- 
ing Henry's  power  and  resentment,  summoned  him  to  restore 
one  of  the  two  duchies  which  he  had  received  from  the  late 
emperor.  Refusal  was  followed  by  condemnation  in  a  diet, 
and  Saxony  was  conferred  on  Albert  the  Boar,  a  descendant, 
on  the  maternal  side,  from  Henry  IV.  Henry  the  Proud  was 
of  the  ancient  family  of  Guelf.  He  resisted  the  decree  of  the 
diet.  Civil  war  ensued.  He  died,  and  his  son,  Henry  the 
Lion,  succeeded  to  his  estates  and  his  enmities. 

In  a  battle  which  took  place  between  the  emperor  and  Hen- 
ry, at  Winsberg,  in  Swabia,  (supposed  to  be  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  south-east  of  Mentz,)  arose  the  two  party  names  of 
Guelf  and  Ghibelin,  familiarly  known,  in  history,  for  centuries 
afterwards.  Like  other  party  names,  (as  Whig  and  Tory  in 
English  history,)  they  were  applied  long  after  their  origin 
was  forgotten.  Guelf  was  Henry's  family  name,  and  assumed 
by  those  who  were  his  partisans.  Ghiblingcn  is  a  town  in 
Wurtemburgh,  (in  the  northern  part  of  Swabia,)  which  was 
the  birthplace  of  the  Hohenstauffen  family,  of  whom  Conrad 
23* 


270  GERMANY. 

III.  was  one.  In  the  battle  of  Winsberg,  the  war-cry  of 
Henry's  men  was  Gnelf,  and  that  of  the  emperor's  men  was 
Ghibelin.  The  former  became  the  general  name  of  the  disaf- 
fected and  rebellious ;  the  latter,  that  of  the  supporters  of  the 
imperial  authority.  These  names  were  transferred  to  Italy, 
and  became  common  there  in  the  factions,  seditions,  rebellions, 
and  civil  wars,  in  which  the  emperors,  the  popes,  and  the 
Italian  republics,  were  parties. 

In  the  result,  Henry  held  Saxony,  and  Albert  the  Boar  was 
dispossessed.  But,  for  Albert,  Brandenburg  (now  part  of 
Prussia)  was  made  a  margravate,  and  raised  to  the  dignity  of 
a  state,  and  was  destined  to  rise  to  the  dignity  of  a  kingdom, 
under  the  name  of  Prussia.  The  eloquent  St.  Bernard  was 
able  to  persuade  Conrad  to  assume  the  cross,  and  to  go  to  Pal- 
estine. Henry  took  advantage  of  his  absence,  and  Conrad, 
returning,  found  his  empire  in  a  state  of  rebellion.  His  death 
soon  after  occurred.  He  left  a  son,  but  recommended  that 
Frederick,  duke  of  Swabia,  surnamed  Barbarossa,  (red  beard,) 
should  be  his  successor. 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 

THE    GERMAN    EMPERORS    FROM     1152    TO    1308. 

Frederick,  Barbarossa,  (1152 — 1190,)  was  nephew  of 
Conrad,  and  the  second  of  the  house  of  HohenstaufTen.  His 
reign  was  devoted,  principally,  to  controversies  with  the  popes, 
and  to  attempts  to  subdue  Italy.  At  home,  he  raised  Lubeck, 
(a  city  distinguished  in  the  Hanse  league,  fourteen  miles  south- 
west of  the  Baltic,  and  thirty  miles  north-east  of  Hamburgh,) 
and  also  Ratisbon,  (on  the  Danube,  two  hundred  miles  south- 
east of  Mentz,)  to  the  dignity  of  imperial  cities.  This  was 
one  more  step  towards  the  freedom  which  cities  afterwards 
attained.  He  renewed  the  enmity  between  the  Guelfs  and 
Ghibelins,  by  taking  from  Henry  the  Lion  one  of  his  duchies. 
The  life  of  Frederick  is  to  be  shown  in  the  events  of  Italy. 
That  which  distinguishes  him  from  most  men  of  his  time, 
was  his  respect  for  learning  and  learned  men,  especially  histo- 
rians. He  was  forced  into  a  crusade,  and  died  in  1 190,  in 
consequence  (as  some  say)  of  bathing  in  the  river  Cydnus, 
near  the  north-east  comer  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  same 


GERMANY.  271 

river  which  was  so  nearly  fatal  to  Alexander.  His  death 
was  caused,  (others  say,)  by  bathing  in  the  river  Salef,  in  the 
same  country. 

From  1190  to  1212  the  affairs  of  Germany  were  exceed- 
ingly perplexed.  Several  elections  occurred,  but  no  event  that 
need  be  mentioned,  except  that  the  Guelfs  were  despoiled  of 
their  territories,  saving  only  the  territory  of  Brunswick,  in  the 
north  of  Germany.  The  present  royal  family  of  England  are 
descended  from  these  Guelfs  (or  Guelphs)  of  Brunswick. 

One  of  the  German  emperors,  in  this  space,  from  1 190  to 
1212,  was  Henry  VI.,  who  married  the  princess  Constance, 
heiress  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  (Sicily  and  Naples.)  This  mar- 
riage led  to  consequences  which  affected  the  condition  of  Eu- 
rope unfavorably,  for  some  centuries.  Henry  VI.  was  son  of 
Frederick  Barbarossa,  and  Henry's  son,  Frederick  II.,  came 
to  the  German  throne  in  1212,  (being  then  king  of  Sicily,)  at 
the  age  of  sixteen,  and  was  crowned  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  in 
1215.  Frederick  II.  lived  in  a  remarkable  period,  and  is 
classed  with  Charlemagne  and  the  great  Alfred.  He  was 
born  at  Jesi,  in  the  marquisate  of  Ancona,  about  one  hundred 
and  ten  miles  north  by  east  from  Rome,  and  near  the  north- 
east coast  of  Italy.  He  is  said  to  have  been  under  the  guar- 
dianship of  Pope  Innocent  III.,  and  to  have  understood  all  the 
languages  spoken  among  his  subjects,  Greek,  Latin,  Italian, 
German,  French,  and  Arabic — extraordinary  acquirements  in 
the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.  The  qualities  of  his 
distinguished  family  are  attributed  to  him :  bravery,  boldness, 
generosity.  He  had  great  talents,  and  cultivated  them  highly. 
His  physical  powers  had  not  been  neglected  ;  he  had  strength- 
ened and  rendered  his  person  graceful  by  chivalrous  exercises. 
For  all  these  acquired  qualities,  he  has  the  additional  merit  of 
having  been  little  indebted  to  any  one  but  himself. 

Frederick  II.  will  be  referred  to  in  the  view,  hereafter  to  be 
taken,  of  Italy.  In  this  place  it  may  be  remarked,  that  his 
German  subjects  were  a  rude,  lawless  population,  occupied 
incessantly  in  hostilities  among  themselves,  or  against  their 
sovereign,  when  not  attracted  to  foreign  war.  His  subjects  in 
northern  Italy,  were  impatient,  rebellious,  and  never  submis- 
sive but  in  the  presence  of  a  superior  force.  His  subjects  in 
the  Two  Sicilies  were  a  mixture  of  Italians,  Sicilians,  Sara- 
cens, Normans,  and  Greeks,  and  no  less  difficult  to  govern 
than  those  of  the  north.  Central  Italy  (the  states  of  the 
church)  separated  his  dominions.  The  popes,  at  this  time, 
had  acquired  a  superiority  over  the  temporal  power  of  princes, 


272  GERMANY. 

from  the  impulse  given  by  Gregory  VII.  Frederick  was  in 
conflict  with  the  popes  nearly  all  his  life,  and  was  twice  ex- 
communicated. In  his  time,  the  crusade  against  the  Albigen- 
ses  and  Waldenses  occurred ;  the  inquisition  was  established, 
and  the  orders  of  monks  were  greatly  increased.  In  his  time, 
also,  first  appeared  the  most  terrific  tribunal  ever  seen  on 
earth,  and  known  by  the  name  of  the  Fern-courts.  Fern  is 
said  to  mean  to  excommunicate,  or  curse.  These  courts  are 
supposed  to  have  arisen  from  the  total  subversion  of  law  and 
order,  and  were  secret  combinations  to  overawe  and  intimi- 
date. They  did  not  attain  to  the  plenitude  of  power  till  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries.  The  members  were  com- 
puted at  one  hundred  thousand,  dispersed  throughout  Germa- 
ny ;  but  their  principal  seat  of  authority  was  in  Westphalia, 
where,  only,  admission  was  granted.  The  members  were 
solemnly  sworn  "to  support  the  holy  feme,  (court,)  and  to 
conceal  its  acts  from  wife  and  child,  father  and  mother,  sister 
and  brother,  fire  and  wind,  from  all  that  the  sun  shines  on,  or 
the  rain  moistens,  and  from  all  that  is  between  heaven  and 
earth."  They  were  known  to  each  other  by  signs  and  watch- 
words. They  held  open  courts  by  day,  and  secret  ones  by 
night,  in  deep  forests,  or  subterranean  halls.  They  assumed 
jurisdiction  over  most  crimes,  especially  sorcery  and  heresy. 
The  only  accusation  was  the  oath  of  one  of  the  members ;  but 
the  accuser  was  never  known  to  the  accused.  If  one  or  more 
summonses,  left  secretly  at  his  dwelling,  did  not  cause  the 
accused  to  appear,  he  was  condemned,  and  any  of  the  mem- 
bers might  put  him  to  death.  If  hung,  it  was  on  a  tree ;  if 
stabbed,  the  knife  was  left  in  the  wound,  to  show,  to  the  initia- 
ted, by  whom  the  deed  was  done.  If  one  of  the  members 
was  known  to  have  hinted  to  the  accused  to  fly,  that  member 
was  put  in  the  place  of  the  accused.  If  one  ventured  to  ap- 
pear and  vindicate  himself,  he  was  subjected  to  the  most  hor- 
rible torture,  and  made  to  condemn  himself.  This  remarkable 
institution  was  so  secretly  conducted,  that  the  details  of  its 
proceedings  are  little  known.  Many  of  its  members  were 
ecclesiastics,  but  it  does  not  appear  to  have  beer*  an  invention 
of  the  church.  Nothing  occurs  in  German  history  which  so 
clearly  shows  the  character  of  society,  as  these  Fern-courts.* 

*  In  Sir  Walter  Scott's  Ann  of  Guierstern,  second  volume,  there  is 
an  account  (in  the  adventures  of  Philipson)  of  the  course  of  proceeding 
in  the  Fem-courts.  The  tragedy  of  the  House  of  Aspen,  by  the  same 
author,  is  founded  on  the  same  tribunal. 


GERMANY.  273 

In  the  time  of  Frederick  II.  the  crusades  had  produced  no 
inconsiderable  effect  on  the  character  of  European  nations.  The 
nobles  and  people  of  different  countries  had  been  drawn  to- 
gether in  a  common  cause.  The  spirit  of  chivalry  had  been 
promoted.  Several  orders  of  knighthood  had  been  established. 
The  benefits  of  national  intercourse,  and  of  commerce,  were 
discerned  and  valued. 

To  such  a  mind  as  that  of  Frederick,  it  was  apparent,  that 
the  social  condition  of  the  world  could  be  greatly  meliorated 
by  turning  attention  to  the  industrious  arts,  by  intellectual  cul- 
tivation, and  by  the  diffusion  of  learning.  He  founded  a  uni- 
versity at  Naples,  and  patronized,  munificently,  the  medical 
school  at  Salerno.  [S.  E.  of  Naples.]  The  fine  arts,  also,  re- 
ceived his  patronage.  In  his  own  court,  he  promoted  the  study 
of  elegant  literature.  He  was  among  the  princes  who  led  an 
army  to  Palestine,  though  he  was  then  under  the  sentence  of 
excommunication.  He  had  the  power,  and  if  he  had  dared  to 
encounter  the  superstition  of  the  age,  he  would  have  reduced 
the  papal  authority  to  harmless  limits.  With  all  these  various 
vocations  he  compiled  a  judicious  code  of  laws,  intended  to  be 
applied,  however  difficult  the  task,  to  the  variety  of  people 
whom  he  ruled.  He  had  his  full  share  of  afflictions.  His 
son,  instigated  by  the  pope,  rebelled,  but  was  subdued  and  par- 
doned. Having  attempted,  afterwards,  to  remove  his  father  by 
poison,  he  was  condemned,  with  his  wife  and  child,  to  perpet- 
ual imprisonment,  and  formally  deposed  from  the  rank  of  king 
of  the  Romans,  by  a  diet  at  Mentz,  in  1235.  About  this  time, 
Frederick  made  a  third  marriage  with  Isabella,  the  daughter 
of  king  John,  (Lackland)  of  England,  niece  of  Richard  Cceur 
de  Lion.  He  closed  his  eventful  life  in  Italy,  Dec.  1250.  Fred- 
erick will  again  come  into  view  in  notices  of  the  church — of 
thecrusades — and  of  the  events  of  Italy.  It  is  to  be  added 
here,  only,  that  he  was  not  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  and 
that  the  brilliant  light  which  he  shed  around  him,  disappeared 
with  him,  serving  only  to  make  the  recurring  darkness  still 
more  dark.  It  is  proper,  however,  to  observe,  that  Dunham, 
in  his  Germanic  Empire,  draws  a  very  disadvantageous  char- 
acter of  Frederick,  herein  at  variance  with  some  other  writers. 
He  even  says,  that  Frederick  "was,  in  fact,  the  most  mischiev- 
ous monarch  with  whom  the  country  had  ever  been  cursed." 
He  founds  himself  on  numerous  ancient  authorities.  Happily 
it  is  not  our  task  to  investigate  the  causes  of  this  difference  of 
opinion.  It  is  sufficient,  for  the  present  purpose,  to  sketch  the 
general  outline  of  events. 


274  HANSE    TOWNS. 

League  of  the  Rhine;  Hanseatic  League.  Before  1250 
many  cities  had  become  populous  and  rich.  They  combined 
to  control  feudal  oppression,  and  to  resist  robberies  and  pira- 
cies. The  cities  along  the  Rhine,  with  some  in  Switzerland, 
maintained  an  armed  force,  at  joint  expense,  on  that  river,  be- 
tween 1200  and  1300,  and  sometime  afterwards.  (Koch.  1. 
158.)  Similar  causes  combined  nearly  all  the  commercial  cit- 
ies along  the  northern  coast  of  Europe,  from  the  Baltic  to  the 
Netherlands,  inclusive;  and  some  cities  in  the  interior  of  Ger- 
many. They  were  called  the  Hanseatic  league ;  original 
name  Hansa,  meaning  league,  or  corporation.  In  1241  Ham- 
burgh and  Lubec  appear,  conspicuously,  in  the  league.  In 
1260  the  number  of  towns  was  85,  maritime  and  interior.  They 
sent  deputies  to  a  triennial  meeting  at  Lubec,  where  their  rec- 
ords were  kept.  They  had  a  factory  at  London,  at  Bruges,  at 
Novogorod,  at  Bergen.  About  the  year  1361,  the  league  re- 
ceived royal  charters,  and  was  favored  by  princes,  who  found 
the  naval  and  military  power  of  the  league  useful,  in  controlling 
the  feudal  lords,  and  in  suppressing  piracies.  The  acceptable 
return  made  for  this  royal  countenance,  was  contributions  and 
voluntary  grants.  The  league  rendered  such  essential  ser- 
vices, that  some  of  its  members  obtained  grants  of  perpetual 
freedom,  and  became  free  cities.  Hamburgh,  Bremen,  Lubec, 
and  Frankfort,  are  free  cities,  to  the  present  day.  The  league 
was  so  powerful  in  1248,  that  it  sent  forth  a  fleet  of  248  ships, 
and  12,000  soldiers.  It  deposed  a  king  of  Sweden,  and  gave 
the  crown  to  another.  (Amer.  Encyc.  under  Hansa.)  But, 
as  this  league  arose  out  of  the  social  and  political  disorder  of 
Europe,  it  was  destined  to  fall,  as  political  power  acquired  con- 
sistency and  firmness.  Sovereigns  were  able  to  subject  Hanse 
cities,  especially  of  the  interior,  to  their  dominion.  Commerce 
became  general,  and  the  motives  to  form  the  league  no  longer 
continued  to  operate.  The  last  of  the  league  was  about  1650. 
The  four  free  cities,  above  mentioned,  are  the  last  remnants  of 
this  powerful  association.  (Koch.  1.  p.  250.)  The  more  com- 
mon name  of  the  league  is,  The  Hanse  Towns. 

From  1250  to  1271,  is  usually  called  the  great  interregnum, 
not  because  there  was  not  an  emperor,  but  because  there  were 
several  at  the  same  time.  Among  them  were  Conrad  IV., 
William,  count  of  Holland,  Richard,  duke  of  Cornwall,  (Eng- 
land,) Alphonso  X.,  of  Castile,  (Spain.)  None  of  the  events 
of  these  twenty-one  years  are  material  to  our  purpose.  It  was 
a  time  of  incessant  civil  convulsion. 

The  election  of  Rodolph,  of  Hapsburgh,  is  a  relief  in  the 


GERMANY.  275 

toilsome  examination  of  German  facts.  If  Frederick  II.  was  far 
before  his  own  age  in  the  discerning  the  means  whereby  soci- 
ety would  be  meliorated,  Rodolph  was  better  adapted  for  sove- 
reignty, in  his  age,  than  any  man  on  whom  it  had  been   confer- 
red.    Two  things  are  first  to  be  considered, — the  inferior  sove- 
reignties of  Germany,  at  this  time,  and  the  changes  which  had 
occurred  in  the  electoral  power.     The   latter,  because  it  is  a 
striking  instance  of  the  tendency  of  power  to  strengthen  itself. 
Bohemia  was  now  a  kingdom,  but  wras  held  as  a  feudal  ter- 
ritory, subject  to  the  emperor.     The  king  of  Bohemia  had  ac- 
quired a  sovereignty  over  Austria,  Styria,  Carinthia,  and  Car- 
niola.     These  territories  are  south  of  the  Danube,  east  of  Ba- 
varia, the  Tyrol,  and  north-eastern  Italy;  extending  south  to 
the  Adriatic  sea.     Bavaria,  north  of  Switzerland,  and  west  of 
the  countries  just    mentioned,  was  divided  into  two   duchies. 
Brandenburg,  of  which  Berlin   is   now  nearly  in  the  central 
part,   was  possessed  by  two  sovereigns  ;  and  Saxony,  south  of 
Brandenburg,   by  three — all  of  whom  were   descended  from 
Albert  the  Boar.     Franconia,  the  centre  of  Germany,  and  the 
northwest  of  Germany,  were   divided,  in  like  mariner,  among 
dukes,  counts,  and  bishops.     Burgundy,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Upper  Rhine,  and  extending  thence  along  the  east  side  of  the 
Rhone  to  the  Mediterranean,  was  still  considered  as  part  of  the 
German  empire,  as  well  as  Switzerland. 

Hallam  remarks,  (vol.  1.  p.  357,)  that  the  secular  electors 
should  naturally  have  been  the  dukes  of  Saxony,  Franconia, 
Swabia,  and  Bavaria,  representing  the  four  nations;  and  the 
three  archbishops  of  Mentz,  Treves,  and  Cologne,  electors  as 
the  head  of  the  church ;  that  the  duke  of  Saxony  was  the  only 
one  of  these  dukes  who  appeared  as  an  elector;  that  it  "con- 
tinues a  problem,"  how  the  count  Palatine,  of  the  Rhine,  the 
king  of  Bohemia,  and  the  Margrave  of  Brandenburg,  had  be- 
come three  of  the  seven  electors. 

Dunham,  (Germanic  Empire,  vol.  2.  p.  213,)  solves  this 
problem,  and  shows  how  the  original  pretaxation,  or  nomina- 
tion, was  converted  into  the  right  of  election  ;  and  by  what 
course  of  events  the  king  of  Bohemia,  the  count  Palatine,  and 
the  Margrave  of  Brandenburg,  became,  together  with  the  duke 
of  Saxony,  and  the  three  archbishops,  the  electoral  college. 
This  explanation  is  too  long  and  dry,  to  be  inserted  here;  but 
the  inference  is,  that  the  individuals  whose  duty,  and  whose 
utmost  power,  originally,  was  the  nomination  of  suitable  per- 
sons, from  among  whom  a  candidate  might  be  elected,  had  now 
become   the   electors   themselves;  and    were,  in   number,  no 


276  GERMANY. 

more  than  seven.  It  is  very  obvious,  that  so  small  a  number 
might  be  easily  managed,  and  they  are  known  to  have  been 
managed  by  Richard,  duke  of  Cornwall,  who  was  very  rich, 
and  who  purchased  his  election,  at  a  great  expense.  This  was 
one  of  the  causes  of  the  confusion  which  arose  in  the  long  in- 
terregnum. What  security  there  may  be  against  elective  cor- 
ruption, under  a  written  constitution,  is  a  "  problem,"  which 
the  American  people  are  now  (1837)  in  the  highway  of  solving. 

Kodolph,  of  Hapsburgh,  (1273 — 1291)  was  of  the  second 
class  of  Nobles.  He  was  lord  of  some  small  disconnected  ter- 
ritories, principally  in  Alsace,  on  the  upper  part,  and  western 
side  of  the  Rhine,  and  on  the  northern  side  of  Switzerland. 
He  owed  his  election  to  an  act  of  courtesy.  The  archbishop 
of  Mentz  was  going  to  Rome;  in  Strasbourgh  (110  miles  south 
of  Mentz,  west  side  of  the  Rhine,)  he  met  with  Rodolph,  and 
asked  of  him  an  escort  of  safety  through  Switzerland.  Ro- 
dolph not  only  furnished  the  escort,  but  accompanied  the  arch- 
bishop to  Rome,  and  returned  with  him  in  safety.  When 
the  election  came  on,  in  1273,  some  years  after  this  journey, 
the  archbishop  remembered  Rodolph ;  and  having  first  gained 
over  the  two  other  archbishops,  the  three  prelates  gained  over 
three  of  the  secular  electors;  and  Rodolph  was  chosen — the 
king  of  Bohemia  dissented.  It  happened  that  three  of  the 
secular  electors  were  unmarried  men.  The  persuasive  argu- 
ment used  with  them,  was,  that  Rodolph  had  some  unmarried 
daughters,  and  that  these  electors  might  connect  themselves 
with  the  imperial  family.  Rodolph  was  surprised  at  this 
turn  in  his  fortunes,  while  he  was  besieging  the  city  of  Basle, 
(where  the  Rhine  turns  from  its  westwardly  course  to  the 
north,)  to  avenge  the  murder  of  some  of  his  relatives  in  that 
place. 

Rodolph  was  wise  enough  to  let  Italy  alone.  He  did  not 
even  go  thither  to  have  the  imperial  crown  placed  on  his  head 
by  the  hand  of  the  pope.  His  able  and  diligent  services  were 
devoted  to  Germany.  His  first  object  was  to  make  an  amica- 
ble arrangement  with  the  pope.  To  effect  this,  he  gave  up  some 
claims  which  had  been  costly  to  his  predecessors.  He  re- 
nounced jurisdiction  over  Rome,  and  the  Sicilies,  and  gained 
an  acceptable  independence  to  the  German  church.  Many 
other  subjects,  long  disputed,  were  involved  in  this  compromise. 
His  next  object  was  to  reduce  Ottacar,  the  king  of  Bohemia,  who 
would  not  acknowledge  him  as  emperor.  In  the  war  which  fol- 
lowed, the  king  was  vanquished  ;  but  the  war  was  renewed,  and 
the  king  was  slain  in  battle.  Rodolph  secured  peace  in  this  quar- 


GERMANY.  277 

ter,  by  giving  a  daughter  to  Wincelas,  the  son  and  successer  of 
Ottacar,  and  accepting  for  his  own  son  a  sister  of  Wincelas. 
Austria,  Styria,  and  Carinthia,  were  acquired,  and  have  ever 
since  been  part  of  the  dominions  of  the  house  of  Austria,  of 
which  Rodolph  was  the  founder. 

The  highest  praise  is  due  to  him  for  his  vigor  in  suppress- 
ing rebellions,  private  war,  and  the  banditti,  which  infested 
Germany.  He  demolished  seventy  of  the  castles  or  strong 
holds  of  the  noble  robbers ;  twenty-nine  of  these  robbers  in 
Thuringia,  (adjoining,  north-westwardly,  the  present  kingdom 
of  Saxony,)  he  caused  to  be  executed.  He  greatly  increased 
the  number  of  cities,  and  extended  the  privileges  of  others,  and 
essentially  promoted  their  advancement  towards  the  freedom 
and  independence  afterwards  acquired. 

The  only  objection  raised  against  Rodolph  was  his  assidu- 
ous care  to  aggrandize  his  own  house ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  "  his  probity  became  a  proverb,"  and  himself  a  "  living 
law."  He  died  in  1291,  at  the  age  of  73,  leaving  and  honor- 
able fame  as  a  monarch,  and  as  a  man.  In  the  time  in  which 
he  lived,  he  may  be  considered  a  far  greater  benefactor  to  the 
empire  than  Frederick  the  second ;  though  the  improvement 
of  the  human  mind,  by  the  cultivation  of  learning,  and  the 
patronage  of  learned  men,  was  not  a  part  of  his  policy.  His- 
torians, who  favor  the  House  of  Austria,  are  unsparing  of  pan- 
egyric on  Rodolph.  They  ascribe  to  him  the  highest  rank 
for  virtues  and  talents,  both  civil  and  military.  This  panegyric 
can  hardly  be  misplaced,  since  he  preserved  tranquillity  among 
such  a  people  as  occupied  Germany,  without  being  a  military 
tyrant.  A  chronicler,  who[lived  at  the  same  time,  says  of  him, — 
"  His  very  name  spread  terror  among  the  turbulent  nobles,  and 
joy  among  the  people.  As  light  springs  from  darkness,  so 
peace  arose  from  desolation.  The  peasant  returned  to  his 
plough  ;  the  merchant,  whom  the  fear  of  banditti  had  confined 
to  his  home,  now  traversed  the  country  with  confidence." 

The  power  of  Rodolph's  house  was  too  strong  not  to  excite 
jealousy;  and  the  electors  would  not  choose  the  only  surviving 
son,  Albert.  Adolf,  of  Nassau,  was  elected,  through  the  in- 
trigues of  his  relative,  the  archbishop  of  Mentz.  But  Albert, 
who  had  recourse  to  the  pope,  procured  the  deposition  of  Adolf, 
and  his  own  election,  in  1298.  Germany  now  relapsed  into 
the  former  turbulence  and  civil  commotion,  in  which  the  popes 
of  Rome  took  a  conspicuous  part. 

A  spirit  of  independence  had  been  gaining  ground  in  Swit- 
zerland, especially  in  the  cantons  of  Schweitz,  Uri,  and  Unter- 
24 


278  GERMANY. 

walden.  Albert  attempted  to  exercise  a  despotic  power  over 
these,  by  agents  whom  he  sent  thither.  Revolt  ensued.  Al- 
bert's personal  presence  was  necessary.  A  quarrel  having 
arisen  between  him  and  his  nephew,  John,  the  latter  waylaid 
the  Emperor,  with  four  associates,  and  put  him  to  death,  near 
the  castle  of  Hapsburgh,  not  far  from  the  river  Reuss,  one  of 
the  tributaries  of  the  Rhine,  between  the  falls  of  the  Rhine 
and  the  city  of  Basle.  [1308.]  The  terrible  vengeance  of  Leo- 
pold, the  emperor's  son,  and  of  Agnes,  his  daughter,  had  some 
effect  in  strengthening  the  revolutionary  spirit  of  Switzerland. 
More  than  1000  innocent  men,  women,  and  children  perished 
in  horrible  torments.  Agnes  is  said  to  have  walked  in  their 
blood,  and  to  have  called  it  the  most  precious  May  dew.  This 
scene  gave  rise  to  a  German  tragedy,  frequently  exhibited  on 
the  stage.  It  is  said,  however,  that  Albert  little  deserved  to  be 
deplored,  being  himself  rapacious,  unjust,  and  tyrannical. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

THE    GERMAN    EMPERORS    FROM    1308    TO     1519. 

The  reign  of  Henry  VII.  (1308 — 1313)  deserves  no  further 
notice,  than  to  remark,  that  the  papal  intrigues  arose,  in  his 
time,  to  full  vigor ;  and  that  he  renewed  the  attempts,  so  fatal 
to  some  of  his  predecessors,  to  subdue  the  north  of  Italy. 
These  were  the  well-known  causes  of  German  wretchedness, 
and  never  failed  to  throw  the  empire  into  convulsions.  The 
civil  wars  and  violence  which  attended  the  reign  of  Louis  V., 
from  1313  to  1347,  are  not  worthy  of  notice.  They  were 
repetitions  of  scenes  already  too  familiar  in  the  history  of  this 
country.  They  are  only  the  common  struggles  for  power, 
seen  in  every  age,  however  modified  as  to  circumstances  and 
means.  In  Germany,  the  means  were  hard  blows,  and  every 
variety  of  crime.  In  republics,  the  struggle  is  through  the 
ballot  box,  and  the  ascendancy  which  can  there  be  gained  by 
honest  or  corrupt  means,  according  to  the  character  of  the 
people. 

Charles  IV.,  of  Bohemia,  (1347— 1378,)  followed  Louis  V., 
sometimes  called  Ludowic.  The  most  remarkable  event  of 
his  reign  was  a  decree  which  he  assumed  to  make,  known  as 
the  "golden  bull,"  from  the  seal  thereto  appended.     By  this 


GERMANY.  279 

instrument,  the  number  of  electors  was  fixed  at  seven,  to  repre- 
sent the  seven  candlesticks  of  the  Apocalypse,  and  the  seven 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  Roman 
church  had  some  agency  in  this  matter.  The  electors  were  to 
be  the  three  archbishops  of  Mentz,  Treves,  and  Cologne;  the 
king  of  Bohemia,  the  count  Palatine  of  the  Rhine,  the  duke  of 
Saxony,  and  the  Margrave  of  Brandenburg.  There  was  no 
innovation  in  this  respect.  The  first  of  these  prelates  was 
recognized  as .  arch-chancellor  of  the  empire ;  the  second,  as 
the  like  officer  of  Italy ;  the  third,  as  the  like  officer  of  the 
kingdom  of  Aries,  which  is  the  south-east  part  of  modern 
France,  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Burgundy.  Deputies  were 
named  for  such  of  the  electors  as  might  be  absent.  The  forms 
of  proceeding,  to  effect  an  election,  were  established.  Many 
other  provisions  were  made  by  the  golden  bull,  to  regulate  the 
rank  of  princes,  and  nobles,  and  for  the  internal  administration 
of  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom.  Time  has  disposed  of  all  these; 
and  though  the  diligence  of  an  antiquary  may  connect  some  of 
the  established  regulations  of  the  present  day  with  these  an- 
cient provisions,  the  result  would  not  compensate  the  labor. 
One  effect  of  this  new  arrangement  was  the  purchase  of  the 
electoral  votes  for  Wincelas,  the  son  of  Charles,  at  the  price 
of  one  hundred  thousand  florins  to  each  elector.  His  attempts 
to  raise  this  great  sum,  alarmed  the  Swabians,  who  formed 
the  "  Swabian  league"  for  the  defence  of  their  liberties.  The 
character  of  Charles  is  drawn  in  dark  colors  by  historians. 
Some  redeeming  acts  are  mentioned — as  the  founding  of  the 
university  of  Prague.*  Also,  that  he  promoted  industry  and 
commerce  in  Bohemia;  but  as  to  Germany,  he  made  little  use 
of  that,  but  to  pillage  it,  and  little  use  of  the  imperial  dignity 
but  to  advance  the  interests  of  himself  and  family. 

Wincelas,  son  of  Charles,  (1378 — 1400,)  is  represented  to 
have  been  not  only  one  of  the  lowest  grade  of  monarchs,  but 
one  of  the  most  debased  and  wicked  of  mortals.  His  crimes 
induced  the  citizens  of  Prague  to  seize  him,  and  throw  him 
into  prison,  among  the  worst  of  malefactors.  He  escaped, 
was  retaken,  and  consigned  to  prison  again.  He  was  at  length 
released,  and  made  some  feeble  attempts  to  control  the  insur- 
rections and  rebellions  which  had  arisen  all  over  the  empire. 
In  1400,  he  was  deposed  by  a  diet.  In  his  time,  four  of  the 
German  circles,  ever  since  known  as  geographical  divisions, 

*  This  city  of  Bohemia,  (eighty  miles  south-east  of  Dresden,  on.  the 
Moldau  river,  a  tributary  of  the  Elbe,)  was  his  place  of  residence. 


280  GERMANY. 

were  established.  In  his  time,  also,  the  religious  sects  called 
the  Hussites,  (elsewhere  to  be  mentioned,)  had  made  them- 
selves known  at  Prague. 

Thus  it  appears  that  at  the  end  of  the  four  first  of  the  five 
centuries  now  under  review,  Germany  had  made  but  incon- 
siderable advances  in  civilization  and  refinement;  though  in 
some  of  the  commercial  cities  of  Germany,  there  will  be  found 
some  exception  to  this  general  truth. 

Robert  (1400 — 1410)  was  count  palatine,  and,  as  such,  one 
of  the  electors.  His  administration  embraced  affairs  in  Italy, 
as  well  as  in  Germany.  Wincelas  had  raised  one  of  the 
family  of  Visconti  to  be  duke  of  Milan ;  and  in  return  for  this 
favor,  Visconti  assumed  to  be  independent  of  the  empire. 
Robert  went  to  reduce  him  to  obedience,  but  was  entirely 
defeated.  In  another  place,  his  troubles  with  the  pope,  and 
with  the  factions  of  the  Guelfs  and  the  Ghibelines,  (which 
now  entered  into  the  affairs  of  Italy  in  all  their  relations,)  will 
be  noticed.  In  Germany,  Robert  was  opposed  by  combina- 
tions of  power  too  formidable  to  be  controlled  by  him.  He 
would  probably  have  been  deposed,  if  death  had  not  made 
that  measure  unnecessary. 

Sigismund,  brother  of  Wincelas,  was  the  next  emperor,  from 
1410  to  1437.  Some  remarkable  events  occurred  during  this 
reign.  A  schism  in  the  Roman  church  had  caused  three 
popes  to  be  elected,  who  claimed  the  throne  at  the  same  time. 
To  settle  this  controversy,  "the  council  of  Constance"  was 
held  (1414  to  1418)  at  the  city  of  Constance,  on  the- southern 
boundary  of  Swabia,  (about  two  hundred  miles  south-east  by 
south  from  Mentz,)  and  on  the  south-west  side  of  lake  Con- 
stance. The  name  of  the  emperor  Sigismund  is  connected 
with  this  council,  as  he  supported  one  of  the  popes ;  and  also 
because  he  gave  a  letter  of  safe  conduct  to  John  Huss,  and 
Jerome  of  Prague,  who  were  summoned  to  appear  at  this 
council,  to  answer  the  charge  of  heresy.  The  emperor,  one 
of  the  popes,  John  XXII.,  twenty-six  princes,  one  hundred  and 
forty  counts,  twenty  cardinals,  seven  patriarchs,  twenty  arch- 
bishops, ninety-one  bishops,  and  four  thousand  and  six  hundred 
other  clerical  dignitaries  and  doctors,  were  present  in  this 
council.  Huss  was  convicted,  and  then  bereft  of  all  the  in- 
signia of  clerical  life,  and  delivered  over  to  the  emperor,  to  be 
dealt  with  as  an  arch  heretic.  The  emperor  caused  him  to  be 
sent  to  the  provost  of  Constance  to  be  burnt,  which  was  duly 
executed  on  the  6th  of  July,  1415.  Jerome  of  Prague  was 
disposed  of,  in  like  manner,  on  the  30th  of  May  following. 


GERMANY.  281 

The  Swiss  cantons  asserted  their  independence  in  Sigis- 
mund's  reign,  and  nobly  persevered  in  maintaining  it.  In  his 
reign,  also,  arose  the  desolating  civil  war  in  Bohemia,  conduct- 
ed on  the  part  of  the  Hussites,  by  the  famous  Zisca.  His 
motives  were  vengeance,  hatred  of  the  Catholics,  and  the  love 
of  plunder.  In  1421,  Zisca  took  the  castle  of  Prague,  and 
possessed  himself  of  the  first  four  cannon  which  had  been  seen 
in  Bohemia.  While  young,  he  lost  one  eye  by  accident,  and 
about  this  time,  an  arrow  deprived  him  of  the  other.  He  still 
continued  at  the  head  of  his  army,  causing  himself  to  be  carried 
on  a  car.  When  a  battle  was  to  be  fought,  the  ground  was 
described  to  him,  and  he  made  a  disposition  of  his  forces 
accordingly.  He  won  thirteen  pitched  battles,  and  was  victo- 
rious in  one  hundred  fights.  He  was  buried  in  the  church  of 
Czalau,  forty  miles  south-east  of  Prague,  and  his  favorite  in* 
strument,  an  iron  battle-axe,  was  hung  up  over  his  tomb. 
Ferdinand  I.,  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  afterwards,  hap- 
pened to  visit  this  church,  and  being  told  that  Zisca  was  buried 
there,  he  immediately  left  the  church,  and  departed  from  the 
town. 

The  ravages  of  Zisca  in  the  German  dominions,  disclosed 
the  incompetency  of  the  feudal  requisitions  to  constitute  a 
military  force.  Hence  arose  the  first  direct  taxation,  in  the 
empire,  to  pay  an  army.  The  collections  made  for  this  purpose 
were  sent  to  the  general  treasury  at  Nuremburg,  a  city  in 
Bavaria,  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  south-east  of  Mentz. 

In  Sigismund's  time  there  were  many  conflicts  among  the 
nobles,  and  some  territorial  changes;  but  these  are  not  of  im- 
portance enough  to  be  noticed.  This  emperor  appears  to 
have  done  nothing  to  advance  the  real  interests  of  his  domin- 
ions. Many  bad  qualities  are  imputed  to  him,  and  not  a  single 
good  one,  excepting  that  he  was  inclined  to  promote  learning. 
Germany  was  much  in  the  rear  of  Italy  and  France,  at  this 
time,  in  the  path  of  improvement.  If  we  except  the  increasing 
power  and  wealth  of  the  commercial  cities,  in  which  the  gov- 
ernment had  no  agency,  Germany  was  little  less  improved  and 
enlightened  in  the  fifteenth  century,  than  it  was  three  centuries 
earlier.  One  fact,  however,  deserves  to  be  noticed,  though 
more  properly  belonging  to  another  place;  the  number  of  the 
freed  from  slavery  had  greatly  increased,  and  the  inferior 
population  were  gradually  acquiring  more  importance  in  the 
scale  of  society. 

Albert  II.,  (1437 — 1 439.)  The  emperor  Sigismund  was  king 
of  Bohemia,  and  of  Hungary,  at  his  death.     He  was  succeed? 
24* 


282  GERMANY. 

ed,  on  this  joint  throne,  by  his  son-in-law,  Albert,  duke  of 
Austria;  who  was  elected  emperor,  or,  as  the  title  was,  king  of 
the  Romans.  The  short  reign  of  this  prince  was  devoted  to 
the  contentions  in  Bohemia  between  the  Catholics  and  the 
Hussites,  and  in  attempting  to  resist  the  Turks,  who  had 
penetrated  into  Hungary.  While  engaged  in  this  latter  enter- 
prise, he,  in  common  with  his  army,  was  assailed  by  disease, 
which  terminated  his  life. 

Frederick  IV.,  (duke  of  Styria,  one  of  the  Austrian  states,) 
1439 — 1493.  This  long  reign  was  perplexed  with  incessant 
civil  wars  in  Bohemia,  and  in  controversies  with  the  Roman 
pontiffs.  He  had  the  mortification  of  being  compelled  to  ac- 
knowledge Podiebrand,  a  Polish  prince,  as  king  of  Bohemia. 
He  was  repeatedly  engaged  in  war  with  his  brother  Albert, 
concerning  his  Austrian  possessions.  The  city  of  Vienna  ap- 
pears to  have  arisen  to  some  distinction,  at  this  time.  Through- 
out these  controversies  and  wars,  the  emperor  was  unable  to 
obtain  any  assistance  from  his  German  dominions;  a  fact 
which  discloses  the  emptiness  of  his  imperial  honors.  Mean- 
while these  dominions  were  involved  in  civil  wars,  and  in 
controversies  with  the  church.  Into  the  details  of  these  scenes 
we  shall  not  enter,  as  they  led  to  no  consequences  which 
interest  the  present  age.  One  measure  of  this  feeble,  but 
selfish  and  avaricious  prince,  did  lead  to  consequences  which 
shaped  the  destinies  of  Europe  for  the  three  following  cen- 
turies. 

In  former  pages,  the  fate  of  Charles  the  Rash,  of  Burgundy, 
has  been  mentioned.  His  daughter  Mary,  heiress  of  his 
domains  in  the  Netherlands,  and  on  the  west  side  of  the  Rhine, 
was  obtained  by  Frederick,  for  his  son  Maximilian.  This 
marriage,  followed  by  that  of  Maximilian's  son  Philip  with 
Joanna,  heiress  of  Spain,  is  one  of  the  most  unfortunate  events 
that  ever  befel  Europe.  How  the  people  of  Europe  might 
have  been  employed,  if  these  marriages  had  not  taken  place, 
is  not  for  mortals  to  know.  But  it  is  inconceivable  that  more 
slaughter,  tyranny,  and  wretchedness,  could  have  arisen  from 
any  possible  causes.  How  irreconcileable  it  is  with  any  sense 
of  natural  right  and  justice,  that  the  marriages,  births,  and 
hereditary  pretensions  of  some  half  a  dozen  individuals,(some  of 
these  very  ordinary  persons,  and  one  of  them  insane,)  should 
have  involved  ail  Europe  in  the  deepest  calamities,  through 
successive  generations ! 

Insignificant  as  Frederick  is  represented  to  have  been,  some 
effective  arrangements  were  projected  by  him,  for  establishing 


GERMANY.  283 

a  military  force  in  the  empire,  though  he  derived  no  benefit 
from  them.  At  this  time  there  appear  to  have  been  three  col- 
leges, that  of  the  electors,  that  of  the  princes,  and  that  of  the 
deputies  from  the  free  cities,  whose  concurrence  was  necessary 
in  raising  troops,  and  in  providing  for  their  payment.  This 
is  said  to  have  been  the  first  measure  towards  a  regular  stand- 
ing army  in  Germany. 

To  Frederick,  also,  is  due  the  commendation  of  having 
attempted  to  end  the  calamities  of  private  war,  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  imperial  judicial  tribunal,  to  take  cognizance  of 
the  complaints  which  usually  caused  these  calamities.  But 
such  was  the  deplorable  state  of  German  society,  that  all  these 
efforts  of  reform  proved  to  be  new  sources  of  contention. 

This  project  having  failed,  the  Swabian  league  was  formed, 
at  the  emperor's  suggestion,  which  comprised  cities,  prelates, 
counts,  and  knights  ;  and  which,  afterwards,  attracted  to  itself 
two  of  the  seven  electors,  some  princes,  and  other  cities.  The 
purpose  was  to  maintain  an  armed  power,  competent  to  enforce 
tranquillity.  This  combination  was  effective.  Two  dukes 
were  subjected  to  its  authority,  and  many  castles,  belonging  to 
banditti,  were  demolished. 

But  the  great  object  of  Frederick's  life  was  to  strengthen 
and  aggrandize  the  house  of  Austria ;  to  which  end  he  estab- 
lished the  grand  duchy  of  Austria,  and  conferred  on  its  dukes 
the  power  of  creating  nobles,  imposing  taxes,  and  exercising 
sovereign  rights  independent  of  assent  or  dissent,  of  the  diets 
of  the  empire.  This  was  one  of  the  measures  which  raised 
that  house  to  its  present  imperial  grandeur,  of  which,  (as 
before  noticed,)  Rodolph  of  Hapsburgh  is  regarded  as  the 
founder. 

The  reign  of  Maximilian  I.  (1493 — 1519)  is  an  important 
era  in  German  history.  The  civil  law  had  been  diligently 
studied,  and  the  knowledge  of  it  was  professed  by  several  who 
were  called  doctors  in  that  law.  The  use  of  gunpowder  and 
of  cannon  was  known  throughout  Europe.  The  worth  of 
learning  began  to  be  perceived,  though  much  less  in  Germany 
than  in  France  and  Italy.  The  corruption,  abuses,  and  ty- 
ranny of  the  ecclesiastics,  were  a  subject  of  very  general  com- 
plaint in  the  church,  as  well  as  out  of  it.  The  evils  of  private 
war,  and  its  utter  incompetency  to  redress  wrongs,  whether 
real  or  supposed,  were  discerned.  The  feebleness  of  the  phys- 
ical force  of  the  empire,  in  comparison  with  its  population  and 
its  means,  was  obvious.  The  insubordination,  the  robberies, 
and  the  general  insecurity  of  person  and  property,  demanded 


284  GERMANY. 

reform.  The  necessity  of  competent  tribunals,  for  the  admin- 
istration of  justice,  had  become  apparent.  A  better  prospect 
dawned  upon  Germany;  but  there  were  jealousies,  rivalries, 
and  embarrassments,  which  opposed  insurmountable  obstacles 
to  desired  reform.  Fortunately,  Maximilian  was  an  able  and 
resolute  sovereign,  and  disposed  to  promote  all  reform  which 
did  not  impair  his  own  power.  To  harmonize  the  imperial 
authority  with  that  which  the  principalities,  duchies,  and  sub- 
ordinate states  of  the  empire  were  disposed  to  retain,  and  to 
submit  all  these  various  interests  to  rules,  common  to  all,  was 
an  exceedingly  difficult  case.  Had  there  been  the  most  sin- 
cere disposition  to  compromise,  as  to  all  difficulties,  the  science 
of  government  was  little  understood,  and  the  means  of  accom- 
plishing any  reasonable  purposes  could  not  be  discerned.  It 
may,  therefore,  be  considered  fortunate,  that  so  much  was 
accomplished,  rather  than  matter  of  reproach  to  the  Germans, 
that  more  and  better  was  not  done.  The  changes  in  Maxi- 
milian's time  will  be  briefly  stated,  having  no  space  for  the 
detail  of  events  by  which  they  were  effected. 

1.  The  perpetual  Peace. — This  measure  was  adopted  in  the 
year  1495.  Its  object  was  to  provide  remedies  for  wrongs 
which  had  been  causes  of  war  among  the  numerous  members 
of  the  empire.  It  contains  divers  provisions,  declaratory  of 
the  future  rights  of  these  members,  relative  to  persons  and 
property.  One  of  these  provisions  shows  the  manners  of  the 
times  in  securing  the  right  of  passing,  unmolested,  from  one 
state  to  another. 

2.  The  Imperial  Chamber. — This  was  a  high  judicial  tri- 
bunal, designed  to  hear  and  to  judge  between  the  members  of 
the  empire — not  unlike  the  old  confederation  of  the  United 
States,  since  it  had  no  power  to  cause  its  judgments  to  be  car- 
ried into  effect. 

3.  The  Aulic  Council,  (from  the  Latin  aula,  court,)  estab- 
lished by  the  emperor,  under  the  apprehension  that  the  impe- 
rial chamber  might  take  from  him  the  jurisdiction  incident  to 
the  crown.  The  civil  law  and  the  canon  law  were  the 
acknowledged  authorities  in  this  tribunal.  The  former,  not 
by  adoption,  but  as  the  law  of  the  land,  the  German  empire 
assuming  to  be  a  continuation  of  the  Roman  empire.  This 
council,  and  the  imperial  chamber,  soon  acquired  concurrent 
jurisdiction. 

4.  Circles  of  Germany. — These  were  established  (as  seen 
on  maps)  for  the  purpose  of  providing  a  power  competent  to 
carry  the  decisions  of  these  courts  into  effect.     They  were 


SWITZERLAND.  285 

suggested  in  the  time  of  Sigismund.  In  Maximilian's  time, 
they  were  established ;  in  number,  ten.  The  last  included  the 
Burgundian  dominions,  afterwards  severed  from  the  empire. 

5.  Military  Force. — This  emperor  first  organized  the  stand- 
ing army,  divided  it  into  companies  and  regiments,  and  direct- 
ed its  armament  and  discipline. 

Besides  these  measures,  he  was  the  author  of  many  others ; 
and,  among  them,  the  suppression  of  the  Fem-courts,  before 
mentioned,  and  the  establishment  of  posts  for  the  transmission 
of  letters.  He  patronized  learning  and  learned  men,  and  was 
himself  a  poet  and  an  author. 

In  his  foreign  relations,  Maximilian  had  numerous  occupa- 
tions. In  the  east,  he  had  to  repel  the  Turks  from  his  heredi- 
tary dominions.  In  the  south,  he  contended  with  Charles 
VIII.  of  France,  in  his  attempts  to  possess  and  hold  Naples. 
Switzerland  was  successful  in  emancipating  itself  from  the 
empire.  He  had  war  with  France  on  the  subject  of  his  Bur- 
gundian territories.  From  insurrections  and  rebellions  within 
the  empire,  he  was  free ;  and  he  is  the  first  of  the  German 
emperors  who  escaped  this  trouble. 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

SWITZERLAND. 

Origin  of  the  League  of  the  Swiss  Cantons. 

When  the  Romans  penetrated  into  the  Alpine  regions,  in 
the  century  before  the  Christian  era,  they  found  there  a  bold 
and  hardy  race,  doubtless  of  Celtic  origin.  They  were  divid- 
ed into  nobles,  druids,  and  peasants.  The  authority  relied  on, 
as  to  the  early  state  of  this  people,  is  the  Commentaries  of 
Caesar.  The  seat  of  his  warfare  was  on  the  north-western 
side  of  Switzerland,  between  the  Alps  and  the  range  of  moun- 
tains called  the  Jura  and  the  Rhine,  and  westwardly  from  the 
lake  of  Geneva  along  the  Rhone.  In  the  language  of  the 
Romans,  the  country  was  Helvetia,  and  its  inhabitants  had 
the  comprehensive  name  of  Helvetii,  but  divided  into  tribes, 
having  distinct  appellations.  Helvetia  included  the  whole 
Alpine  territory  from  the  Rhine  to  Cisalpine  Gaul,  which  is 
now  northern  Italy.  In  the  time  of  Roman  dominion,  Hel- 
vetia partook  of  Roman  civilization,  and  some  towns,  and  even 


286  SWITZERLAND. 

cities  arose.  When  the  barbarians  appeared,  at  the  close  of 
the  fifth  century,  a  part  of  them,  the  Burgundians,  and,  per- 
haps, another  part,  called  the  Alemanni,  intermixed  with  the 
Helvetii.  The  Burgundian  kingdom  was  established  between 
the  Alps  and  mount  Jura,  and  westwardly  of  Geneva,  on  both 
sides  of  the  Rhone.  The  latter  range  extends  north-east  from 
the  west  end  of  the  lake  of  Geneva  towards  the  great  bend  of 
the  Rhine,  and  then  continues  its  course  parallel  to  that  river, 
on  its  west  side,  and  distant  from  it  thirty  or  forty  miles. 

Before  the  year  1000,  Switzerland  had  the  common  destiny 
of  France  and  Germany,  in  being  subjected  to  feudal  lords. 
Castles  were  erected,  and  power  exercised  over  vassals,  as  in 
neighboring  countries.  The  history  of  Switzerland  presents 
neither  new  nor  interesting  facts,  until  its  brave  inhabitants 
began  to  resist  the  tyranny  of  their  feudal  sovereigns,  and  to 
make  themselves  known  as  warriors,  to  Germany,  France, 
and  Italy.  At  this  point  their  history  becomes,  and  continues 
to  be,  highly  interesting  and  instructive.  They  displayed  an 
ardent  devotion  to  liberty  which  does  honor  to  human  nature, 
and  a  bravery  not  surpassed  in  Roman  or  Grecian  annals. 
They  show  what  union  and  patriotism  may  do  against  a  foe, 
strong  in  the  proportion  of  ten  to  one.  But  they  also  show 
how  miserable  a  people  may  become  by  disunion  and  internal 
contention. 

Switzerland  is  about  two  hundred  miles  long,  from  west  to 
east,  and  about  one  hundred  and  forty  broad,  from  north  to 
south.  From  the  east  end  of  the  lake  of  Geneva,  in  a  course 
directly  south,  is  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  distant  about 
two  hundred  miles.  The  Alps,  in  irregular  masses,  occupy 
nearly  the  whole  of  this  space,  making  a  partition  between 
France  and  Italy,  and  between  Savoy  on  the  west,  and  Italy 
and  Switzerland  on  the  east.  South  from  the  east  end  of  the 
Geneva  lake,  about  twenty-five  miles,  is  Mont  Blanc,  and 
south-east  from  the  city  of  Geneva.  In  the  same  group,  and 
eastwardly  from  it,  is  Saint  Bernard.  South  from  Mont 
Blanc,  at  the  distance  of  sixty  miles,  is  Mont  Ceni,  six  thou- 
sand feet  high,  over  which  Napoleon  constructed  a  carriage- 
road,  connecting  Savoy  and  Italy.  From  Mont  Blanc,  in  a 
course  nearly  north-east,  runs  the  grand  range  of  mountains 
which  may  be  called  the  northern  wall  of  Italy.  In  this 
range  are  found  the  towering  summits  of  the  Simplon,  St. 
Gothard,  and  the  Splungen,  which  look  down  on  Italy.  One 
of  Napoleon's  memorials  of  himself  is  the  admirable  carriage- 
road  over  the  Simplon.     The  elevation  of  these  summits  is 


SWITZERLAND.  287 

from  12  to  14,000  feet.  Nearly  parallel  to  this  range,  on  the 
north-west,  and  at  the  distance  of  about  35  miles,  is  another 
range,  many  parts  of  which  attain  to  a  similar  height ;  and  be- 
tween the  two  is  the  "  Vallai,"  through  which  the  Rhone,  flow- 
ing first  south-west,  and  then  north-west,  finds  its  way  to  the 
east  end  of  Geneva  lake. 

From  the  sides  of  these  great  mountain  ranges  there  are  ir- 
regular branches,  which  form,  in  their  deep  hollows,  the  beds 
of  numerous  lakes ;  and  these,  with  tributary  streams,  are  the 
sources  of  some  of  the  grandest  rivers  of  Europe.  Here  are 
fountains  of  the  Danube — the  Reuss — the  Aar — the  Rhine, 
and  the  Rhone.  On  the  northern  side  of  the  great  northern 
range,  the  branches  decline,  (leaving  some  grand  peaks  in 
their  way,)  till  they  disappear;  and  then,  towards  the  north- 
west, are  the  plains,  or  lowlands  of  Switzerland.  The  Rhine, 
having  entered  lake  Constance,  in  the  north-east  corner  of 
this  country,  flows  westwardly,  thence  to  Basle,  and  forms  the 
northern  boundary.  Here  this  noble  river  takes  a  northern 
course,  leaving  mount  Jura  on  the  west,  and,  separating  France 
and  Germany,  flows  to  the  Netherlands,  and  the  German 
ocean.  In  this  extraordinary  portion  of  the  earth  there  may 
be  found  the  luxuriant  vegetation  of  tropical  summer  in  the 
deep  valley,  while,  in  looking  upward,  all  the  varieties  of  the 
annual  seasons  may  be  discerned,  finishing,  on  the  sublime  ele- 
vation, with  winter  more  enduring  than  that  of  the  arctic 
circle. 

The  people  of  Switzerland  are  hardly  less  remarkable  than 
the  singular  country  they  inhabit.  Here  are  found  the  simplici- 
ty of  pastoral  life — the  patient  industry  of  the  agriculturalist 
— the  ingenuity  of  the  mechanic — the  hereditary  bravery  of 
the  warrior — the  cultivation  of  the  mind  in  science  and  litera- 
ture; and,  above  all,  a  cherished  love  of  liberty.  The  extrava- 
gance of  luxury,  known  in  some  cities  of  France  and  Germa- 
ny, finds  no  attraction  in  these  mountains  and  vallies.  The 
awful  presence  of  nature,  unchanged  and  unchangeable,  like 
the  eternal  ocean,  seems  to  indispose  the  mind  to  the  frivolities 
which  are  common  in  artificial  scenes. 

The  relative  situation  of  places  to  be  mentioned  in  these 
sketches,  may  be  understood  from  assuming  a  central  point, 
and  computing  from  thence.  The  city  of  Lucerne  is  nearly  in 
the  centre  of  Switzerland,  at  the  northwest  end  of  the  lake  of 
the  same  name.  Its  latitude  is  46°  45'  north ;  its  long.  8°  & 
east.  All  distances  will  be  computed  from  this  city  with  as 
much  accuracy  as  will  serve  for  a  general  view. 


288  SWITZERLAND. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  the  emperors  of 
Germany  had  become  the  sovereigns  of  the  feudal  lords,  who 
were  the  territorial  sovereigns  of  Switzerland.  The  dukes  of 
Swabia,  and  Carinthia  (now  part  of  the  Austrian  dominions,) 
were  the  principal  ones  of  these  feudal  lords.  Certain  officers 
were  sent  into  this  country  as  local  governors,  and  collectors  of 
revenues,  and  to  preserve  tranquillity.  Their  German  official 
name  may  be  translated  into  patron,  or  warden,  or  bailiff  We 
pass  over  the  wars  which  these  territorial  lords  carried  on 
among  themselves,  in  which  the  people  of  the  country  could 
only  change  masters,  and  which  were  sure  to  be  afflictive  to 
them,  whichever  party  was  successful.  Berchtold  V.,  one  of 
the  dukes  of  Carinthia,  of  the  family  name  of  Zoringen,  es- 
tablished the  city  of  Berne,  in  1 191,  on  the  river  Aar,  40  miles 
west  of  Lucern.  This  duke  is  mentioned  as  deserving  the 
highest  commendation  in  the  exercise  of  his  power.  On  his 
death,  and  the  extinction  of  his  family  thereby,  Switzerland 
fell  under  the  dominion  of  the  house  of  Hapsburg,  of  whom 
Rodolph  was  the  first  who  wore  the  crown  of  Germany.  Be- 
fore his  election,  he  was  actively  engaged  in  the  government 
of  this  country,  which  had  its  usual  portion  of  wars  and  ca- 
lamities, arising  from  the  hostility  of  the  nobles.  When  Ro- 
dolph was  elected  emperor,  he  granted  or  confirmed  the  privi- 
leges of  several  towns.  He  raised  here  one  abbot,  and  one 
bishop,  to  the  dignity  of  princes  of  the  empire,  and  received  a 
military  force  from  Switzerland,  as  part  of  his  body  guard. 
But,  like  other  men  who  are  elevated  to  power,  Rodolph 
forgot  his  obligations  and  duties  to  the  Swiss,  in  the  desire  of 
aggrandizing  the  members  of  his  own  family.  He  had  made 
of  one  son  a  duke  of  Swabia,  and  of  another  son,  (Albert,)  a 
duke  of  Austria;  and  intended  to  make  a  third  son  duke  of 
Helvetia.  But  this  son  (Hartman)  was  drowned  in  the  Rhine 
before  his  father  could  accomplish  this  object.  (1285.) 

When  this  Albert  was  elected  Emperor,  in  1298,  he  exercis- 
ed his  power,  most  oppressively,  to  the  people  of  Switzerland. 
The  history  of  this  country  begins  to  show  the  character  of  its 
people  in  the  reign  of  Albert.  He  was  not  only  emperor  and 
duke  of  Austria,  but,  as  one  of  the  family  of  Hapsburg,  he 
claimed  sovereignty  over  Switzerland.  He  was  "feared by  all 
his  subjects,  hated  by  many,  loved  by  none."  He  doubled  the 
taxes ;  and  the  nobles,  who  stood  between  him  and  the  peasan- 
try, to  supply  their  wants,  imposed  every  variety  of  exaction. 
The  peasantry  were  still  considered  as  serfs,  or  slaves,  a*nd,  on 
the  decease  of  the  father  of  a  family,  his  best  head   of  cattle, 


SWITZERLAND.  289 

and  his  best  clothes,  or  arms,  became  the  property  of  his  im- 
mediate lord,  according  to  feudal  custom.  Some  of  the  cities 
were  unable  to  purchase  freedom  by  outright  payments,  or  an- 
nual sums.  Besides  these  taxes  and  charges,  the  church  had 
its  claims.  These  burthens  might  have  been  endured,  as  those 
who  bore  them  were  thereto  accustomed.  But  they  were  en- 
forced with  the  most  irritating  oppression. 

Albert,  having  renewed  the  attempt  to  establish  a  dukedom 
in  Switzerland,  and  having  sent  two  bailiffs  to  tyrannise  over 
Uri,  Schwitz,  and  Underwalden,  the  spirit  of  the  people  was 
brought  into  action.  These  three  cantons  took  the  lead  in  the 
serious  measures  which  ensued.  The  canton  of  Undericalden 
lies  directly  south  of  the  lake  Lucerne;  that  of  Schwitz  direct- 
ly east  of  this  lake ;  and  that  of  Uri  south  of  Schwitz,  extend- 
ing to,  and  including  mount  St.  Gothard,  and  the  celebrated 
place  the  devil's  bridge,  near  this  mountain.  These  three  are 
usually  called,  in  the  histories  of  these  times,  the  forest  can- 
tons. They  were,  at  this  time,  (1300,)  under  the  protection  of 
the  empire  of  Germany.  Albert  proposed  to  them  to  exchange 
this  subjection,  for  that  of  the  duke  of  Austria;  in  other  words, 
to  bring  them  directly  in  subjection  to  himself.  They  declined 
this  proposal.  Soon  after,  two  bailiffs,  of  Albert's  appointment, 
Gessler  and  Beranger,  (apparently  selected  as  suitable  instru- 
ments to  manifest  Albert's  displeasure,)  appeared  in  the  forest 
cantons.  Excessive  impositions  and  the  most  insufferable  in- 
solence followed.  Gessler  built  a  fortress  at  the  foot  of  St.  Go- 
thard to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Uri's  restraint.  For  some 
alleged  offence  of  the  son  of  Henry,  of  Halden,  Beranger  im- 
posed on  him  a  fine  of  a  yoke  of  oxen.  The  son,  in  resent- 
ment, wounded  one  of  the  bailiff's  servants,  and  fled.  Beran- 
ger demanded  of  the  father  the  surrender  of  the  son.  The 
father  had  not  the  power  to  comply.  Not  only  were  the  oxen 
seized,  and  a  fine  imposed,  but  the  unoffending  father  was  de- 
prived of  his  eyes. 

At  Altorf,  situated  at  the  end  of  the  lake,  20  miles  south-east 
of  Lucerne,  Gessler  set  up  a  hat  on  a  pole,  and  demanded  that 
every  one  who  passed,  should  bow  before  it,  in  proof  of  his 
submission  to  Austria's  duke.  These,  and  many  similar  out- 
rages, led  Warner  Stauffacher,  (whose  offence  was  that  he  had 
built  a  good  house  for  himself,  without  the  bailiff's  permission,) 
Arnold,  the  son  of  the  blind  Henry,  and  Walter  Faust,  (anoth- 
er of  the  aggreived,)  to  commune  on  suitable  measures  to  free 
their  country  from  these  tyrants.  They  met  (as  often  as  cir- 
circumstances  required)  at  Rutli,  in  a  solitary  meadow,  over- 
25 


290  SWITZERLAND. 

hung  by  a  mountain,  on  the  west  side  of  the  lake,  15  miles 
S.  E.  of  Lucerne.  On  the  I  lth  Nov.  1307,  each  of  the  three 
confederates  brought  to  the  midnight  meeting  ten  others,  who 
solemnly  united  themselves  to  avenge  their  wrongs,  and  free 
their  country.  About  this  time  occurred  the  well-known  events 
between  Gessler  and  William  Tell,  who  was  one  of  the  thirty- 
three  confederates.  There  is  a  note  in  Koch's  work  on  the 
revolutions  of  Europe,  in  which  an  anonymous  work,  attribut- 
ed to  one  Frudenberger,  is  mentioned,  which  treats  of  the  story 
of  William  Tell  as  a  fable.  This  suggestion  produced  two 
works  of  defence.  John  Von  Muller,  (born  at  Schaffhausen, 
on  the  Rhine,)  the  celebrated  historian  of  Switzerland,  is  a  suf- 
flcent  authority  for  the  existence  and  agency  of  William  Tell. 
Traditions,  and  the  ancient  chapel  on  the  border  of  the  lake, 
bearing  his  name,  are  persuasive  evidence  of  the  reality  of  the 
scenes  for  which  he  is  celebrated.  The  place  at  which  Tell 
cleft  the  apple  on  his  son's  head,  with  his  arrow,  and  fearlessly 
declared  that  his  second  arrow  was  intended  for  Gessler's  heart, 
if  the  first  went  not  as  Tell  desired  it  should  go,  was  Altorf. 
The  declaration  exasperated  Gessler,  and  he  ordered  Tell  to 
be  taken  across  the  lake,  and  from  the  presence  of  his  friends, 
that  vengeance  might  be  more  deliberate  and  certain.  Gessler 
went  in  the  same  boat.  The  chapel  is  erected  on  the  spot  where 
Tell  landed  in  the  tempest,  and  where  he  slew  Gessler,  who 
intended  a  similar  fate  for  him.  The  story  is  recorded  in  a 
painting  in  the  market-place  at  Altorf.  [Naylor's  history  of 
Helvetic  republics;  vol.  1.  p.  211,  and  seq.] 

On  the  eve  of  the  new  year,  1308,  one  of  the  confederates 
was  drawn  up  with  a  rope,  by  a  female  who  served  in  Gessler's 
castle,  at  Rotsberg,  and  thus  the  doors  of  the  castle  could  be 
opened  from  the  interior.  On  the  following  day  they  possess- 
ed themselves  of  this  castle,  which  they  demolished,  and  also 
several  other  castles ;  and  among  the  rest,  that  of  "  The  Re- 
straint of  Uri."  Soon  after,  the  three  forest  cantons  solemnly 
united  themselves  in  a  league,  by  adopting  the  oath  originally 
formed  at  the  meadow  of  Rutli.  Thus  the  confederation  of 
the  Swiss  cantons  for  the  maintenance  of  liberty,  was  com- 
menced. 

On  the  first  of  May,  1308,  the  emperor  Albert  was  slain,  as 
has  been  before  related.  The  terrible  vengeance  taken  for  this 
deed  had  the  effect  to  combine  the  confederates  still  more 
strongly  in  their  purposes.  On  the  other  hand,  Frederick  and 
Leopold,  sons  of  Albert,  undertook  to  subdue  Switzerland.  On 
the  15th  Nov.  1315,  an  army  of  15  to  20  thousand  appeared 


SWITZERLAND.  291 

at  Zug,  15  miles  N.  E.  of  Lucerne.  Two  other  bodies,  of  4000 
and  1000,  were  to  unite  at  Stanz,  8  miles  south  of  Lucerne. 
The  main  army  is  described  as  containing  the  most  accom- 
plished warriors  of  the  day,  armed  to  the  fullest  effect ;  and 
having  with  them  wagons  loaded  with  cords,  to  hang  the  in- 
habitants. The  Swiss  forces  are  stated  at  2050.  This  great 
army  had  to  pass  along  the  border  of  the  lake  of  Egeri,  about 
15  miles  nearly  N.  E  of  Lucerne,  whereon  the  town  of  Mor- 
garten  is  situated.  A  high  mountain  approaches  the  lake,  per- 
mitting only  a  narrow  artificial  road.  The  Swiss  had  posted 
themselves  on  this  mountain,  and  when  the  whole  army  had 
come  within  the  narrow  pass,  they  commenced  their  attack 
with  missiles  from  above ;  and  afterwards,  in  close  conflict  be- 
low, and  before  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  whole  of  this 
brilliant  Austrian  force  was  put  to  death,  or  ignoble  flight. 
Duke  Leopold  was  saved  with  the  utmost  difficulty.  This  bat- 
tle of  Morgarten  was  the  first  grand  triumph  of  the  forest  can- 
tons ;  a  triumph  well  adapted  to  produce  a  vengeful  reaction 
on  the  part  of  Austria.  The  contemplation  of  the  future  sug- 
gested measures  to  meet  whatever  might  arise. 

On  the  13th  Dec.  1315,  the  representative  envoys  of  the 
three  forest  cantons  (Uri,  Schwitz,  and  Underwalden)  met  at 
Brunen,  15  miles  S.  E.  of  Lucerne,  and  there  formed  a  league 
for  self  defence  against  all  enemies ;  the  most  simple,  the  most 
effective,  and  the  most  enduring  of  any  confederation  known  in 
history.  The  enemies  with  whom  the  confederates  had  to  con- 
tend, proved  to  be  the  German  emperors,  and  the  house  of  Aus- 
tria. It  must  unfortunately  be  added,  that  the  confederates  did 
not  escape  contentions  among  themselves,  and  that  their  swords 
were  sometimes  turned  against  each  other.  The  emperor 
claimed  of  the  inhabitants  the  performance  of  duties  as  vassals 
of  the  empire,  and,  when  the  emperor  was  of  the  Austrian 
house,  the  duties  of  subjects.  When  the  emperor  was  of  any 
other  than  the  Austrian  family,  he  had,  in  general,  a  war  on 
hand  writh  that  family.  From  these  causes,  and  from  the  op- 
pressive exactions  of  the  nobles  who  dwelt  within  the  limits  of 
Switzerland,  the  inhabitants  were  kept  in  a  severe  discipline  to 
acquire  the  means  of  combining  their  powers  for  self-defence, 
and  to  exert  them,  when  combined,  against  all  assailants.  In 
this  school  "the  Swiss  "  became  the  bravest  and  most  effective 
of  all  the  soldiery  of  Europe, 

We  must  pass  over  many  occurrences  in  the  Alpine  country, 
intending  to  limit  attention  to  the  forming  of  the  confederation, 
and  the  final  emancipation  of  Switzerland  from  Germany  and 


292  SWITZERLAND.  • 

from  Austria.  It  is  to  be  supposed  that  in  two  centuries,  nu- 
merous events,  civil  and  military,  occurred,  and  that  many  in- 
dividuals highly  distinguished  themselves  as  patriots  and  war- 
riors. Such  only,  of  these  events,  as  illustrate  "the  Swiss" 
for  other  ages,  as  well  as  their  own,  can  be  noticed. 


CHAPTER  XLV1. 

The  Wars  between  the  Swiss  Cantons  and  the  German  Emperors;  and  be- 
tween the  Swiss,  and  the  Dukes  of  Austria,  from  1316  to  1450. 

The  three  original  members  of  the  confederation,  the  forest 
cantons,  maintained  a  sincere  detestation  of  the  house  of  Aus- 
tria, and  showed  this  by  adherence  to  those  emperors,  who 
were  not  of  that  house.  Accordingly,  Louis  V.,  in  1316,  an- 
nihilated all  the  rights  of  Austria  in  Switzerland,  by  an  impe- 
rial decree;  a  measure  very  sure  to  cause  new  troubles  when 
an  Austrian  prince  should  come  to  the  throne.  In  1332  the 
canton  of  Lucerne,  freed  from  Austria,  joined  the  confedera- 
tion as  the  fourth  member.  The  fifth  member  was  Zurich, 
whose  condition,  and  membership,  require  some  notice.  The 
city  of  Zurich,  is  situated  at  the  north  end  of  a  lake  of  the 
same  name,  in  a  north-eastwardly  course  from  Lucerne,  and  dis- 
tant from  it  about  30  miles.  Nearly  the  same  distance  from 
Zurich,  in  the  same  course,  brings  one  to  the  ancient  town  of 
SchafThausen,  on  the  Rhine.  Zurich  was  a  town  of  ancient 
Helvetia,  and  had  been  a  town  or  city  more  than  thirteen  cen- 
turies, when  it  was  received  into  the  confederation  in  1332.  It 
had  mantained  its  independence,  and  was  one  of  the  free  towns 
in  Europe,  which  united  for  mutual  security  and  commerce,  in 
the  thirteenth  century.  At  this  time,  1332,  the  city  is  supposed 
to  have  contained  12,000  inhabitants,  consisting  of  some  no- 
bles and  knights,  but  mostly  free  citizens.  Its  interior  govern- 
ment was  conducted  by  popular  election,  and  was,  consequent- 
ly, subjected  to  great  excitements  and  violent  changes.  A  van- 
quished party  would  seek  alliance  and  aid  from  abroad,  and 
was  sure  to  find  them  in  the  house  of  Austria;  or  among  dis- 
contented and  rival  neighbors. 

One  of  the  popular  revolutions  had  occurred  at  Zurich  in 
the  year  1335.  Several  nobles,  and  eminent  citizens,  were 
thrust  out  of  power,  and  obliged  to  find  safety  in  flight.  These 
exiles  entered  into  treaties  with  such  as  were  unfavorably  dis- 


SWITZERLAND. 


293 


posed  towards  Zurich.  Among  these  were  the  inhabitants  of 
the  town  o  f  Rappersweil,  situate  on  the  lake  S.  E.  of  Zurich 
18  miles,  N.  E.  of  Lucerne  30  miles.  The  citizens  of  Zurich 
attacked  and  burnt  this  town  (of  R.)  which  was  among  those 
in  which  Austria  was  interested,  and  next,  Albert  (duke  of 
Austria)  appears,  as  the  efoemy  of  Zurich,  with  a  force  of 
16,000  men.  The  duke  also  called  the  people  of  Glarus  to 
his  standard,  as  vassals.  The  canton  of  Glarus  adjoins,  and 
lies  S.  E.  of  the  canton  of  Schwitz.  As  the  vassals  of  Glarus 
canton  did  not  obey  the  duke,  he  sent  an  army  thither,  intend- 
ing to  subdue  them,  and  overawe  Schwitz  and  Uri.  The  vic- 
tories of  the  people  of  Glarus  over  the  Austrians,  secured  to 
them  an  honorable  admission  to  the  league  as  the  sixth  mem- 
ber, in  1350.  In  1353,  the  canton  of  Zug,  (north-east  of  Lu- 
cerne, and  north  of  Schwitz,)  joined  the  league,  making  the 
seventh  member. 

Duke  Albert  persevered  in  his  attempts  to  reduce  Zurich, 
which  was  now  defended  within  its  own  walls,  against  his  be- 
sieging army.  A  siege,  in  these  days,  was  less  a  question  of 
power  and  skill,  than  one  of  patience  and  food.  Albert's  im- 
patience, and  want  of  food,  induced  him  to  make  terms  of 
peace.  Among  his  forces  were  a  body  of  men  from  the  city 
of  Berne,  which  is  40  miles  west  of  Lucerne,  and  about  60 
miles  S.  W.  of  Zurich:  when  Albert's  troops  retired,  the  men 
of  Berne  remained.  Their  purpose  was  to  join  the  league, 
and  Berne  became  the  eighth  member  in  1353.  Thus,  in  about 
38  years,  the  poor,  humble  peasants  of  the  "  forest  cantons," 
Schwitz,  Uri,  and  Underwalden,  had  formed  a  league  for  the 
most  honorable  and  praiseworthy  purposes,  and  had  attracted 
into  the  same  alliance  the  cities  of  Lucerne,  Zurich,  and 
Berne,  and,,  the  cantons  of  Glarus  and  Zug — making  eight 
members. 

The  confederation  had  already  obtained  the  name  of  Swiss, 
not  that  its  members  so  named  it,  but  because  it  was  so  spoken 
of,  out  of  Switzerland,  from  the  prominent  part  ever  taken  by 
the  people  of  the  canton  of  Schwitz,  in  all  its  affairs,  civil  and 
military.  Hitherto  the  confederation  was  nothing  but  a  solemn 
oath  to  maintain  themselves  and  each  other,  in  freedom  and  in- 
dependence. Nothing  more  was  needed.  Each  city  and  can- 
ton regulated  its  own  concerns  ;  and  each  one  sent  all  the  force 
it  could,  to  any  point  where  forces  were  wanted.  It  is  a  curi- 
ous fact,  that  hitherto,  in  Swiss  military  achievements,  nothing 
is  heard  of  Swiss  generals.  Either  there  were  none,  or  every 
warrior  was  one.  Instances  of  great  and  glorious  acts  occur, 
25* 


294  SWITZERLAND. 

but  usually  among  the  mere  soldiery,  men  whose  veins  had  no 
tinge  of  noble  blood  but  their  own  ;  their  limbs  no  chivalrous 
discipline  but  in  the  best  mode  of  routing  an  army. 

The  Swiss  league  was  considered  as  undutiful  both  to  the 
empire  and  to  Austria,  and  attempts  were  made  to  break  it  up. 
From  this  time  (1350,"  when  the  league  comprised  eight  mem- 
bers) to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  history  of  Swit- 
zerland may  be  ranged  under  these  three  subjects :  1.  The 
attempts  of  the  empire  to  subdue  or  control.  2.  The  attempts 
of  Austria  to  the  like  ends.  3.  The  contentions  and  wars 
among  the  members  of  the  league  in  general,  occasioned  by 
some  intrigue  of  one  or  of  both  of  these  powers,  (the  empire 
and  Austria.) 

In  1353,  duke  Albert,  of  Austria,  complained  to  the  emperor 
Charles  IV.  of  the  Swiss  league,  and  requested  his  aid  to 
break  it  up.  Charles  appeared  before  Zurich  with  forty 
thousand  men  and  four  thousand  knights.  Zurich  had  within 
its  walls  only  four  thousand  soldiers.  They  intimated  to 
Charles,  by  displaying,  on  high,  a  golden  ground  with  a  black 
eagle  thereon,  (the  imperial  arms,)  that  the  quarrel  with  Aus- 
tria did  not  affect  their  allegiance  to  the  empire.  In  twenty 
days  the  emperor  broke  up  his  army  and  retired.  Rudolph 
Brun  appears  to  have  been  the  most  conspicuous  citizen  of 
Zurich  in  these  days. 

In  1358,  an  attack  on  Berne  and  its  entire  overthrow,  were 
intended  by  the  nobles  who  had  become  hostile  to  the  inhabit- 
ants. These  nobles  had  the  support  and  aid  of  others,  who 
dwelt  towards  the  Rhine.  The  duke  of  Austria,  and  even  the 
emperor,  sanctioned  this  intention.  A  combined  force  of  fif- 
teen thousand  men  on  foot,  three  thousand  of  horse,  twelve 
hundred  knights  in  complete  armor,  seven  hundred  barons 
"  with  crowned  helmets,"  appeared  to  conquer  or  destroy. 
The  first  object  of  attack  was  the  small  town  of  "Laupen,  ten 
miles  south-west  of  Berne.  The  number  of  the  confederates 
who  met  this  formidable  body  at  Laupen,  could  not  have  been 
one  fourth  of  their  number.  Nine  hundred  only  are  stated  to 
have  come  from  the  forest  cantons.  The  invading  host  (June 
20,  1359)  were  completely  defeated  and  slain,  or  put  to  flight. 
Twenty-seven  banners  of  imperial  cities  and  of  high  nobles 
graced  this  victory.  Rudolph,  of  Erlach,  appears  to  have 
been  the  untitled  hero  of  the  day,  on  the  side  of  the  Swiss. 

A  peace  of  about  thirty  years'  duration  followed  the  battle 
of  I^aupen.  The  cities  of  the  confederacy,  and  the  respective 
cantons,  were  left  to  themselves.     The  prosperity  or  depression 


SWITZERLAND.  295 

which  attended  them,  depended  on  the  character  of  the  popu- 
lation and  the  form  of  government.  Zurich  was  industrious 
and  prosperous  ;  Berne  grasping  and  ambitious  ;  Lucerne  dis- 
turbed by  internal  factions.  These  thirty  years  were  years  of 
peace  as  to  Austria  and  the  empire ;  but  the  confederates  were 
called  to  arms  on  two  occasions,  once  to  repress  a  formidable 
association  of  armed  men,  who  had  no  employment  but  rob- 
bery, the  other  to  resist  de  Coucy.  This  person  is  called  duke 
of  Soissons  and  Bedford,  and  husband  of  Isabella,  daughter  of 
Edward  III.  of  England.  Catharina,  mother  of  de  Coucy, 
was  daughter  of  that  Austrian  duke  Leopold  who  was  defeat- 
ed at  Morgarten.  Austria  was  to  have  given  a  dowry  to 
Catharina  in  the  Swiss  territories,  then  claimed  by  Austria  in 
sovereignty.  As  the  Swiss  had  taken  these  territories,  and 
Austria  could  not  dispose  of  them,  de  Coucy  came  to  take 
them  by  force.  His  army  was  numerous,  rapacious,  and 
cruel,  and  unresisted,  till  it  came  to  the  walls  of  Berne  and 
the  frontiers  of  Zurich.  The  sufferings  of  the  people  at  length 
combined  them,  ancl  de  Coucy  was  signally  defeated. 

Within  the  fourteenth  century  (1365 — 1388)  the  confedera- 
tion had  been  twice  assailed  by  Austria.  The  assailants  were 
again  defeated  at  Wesen  and  at  Naefels,  in  the  canton  of  Gla- 
rus,  with  great  loss.  The  most  perilous,  doubtful,  and  suc- 
cessful of  all  the  battles  hitherto  fought,  was  that  of  Sempach, 
on  the  9th  of  July,  1386.  This  place  is  ten  miles  north-west 
from  Lucerne.  The  Austrian  force  were  chosen  men,  com- 
pletely armed,  and  double  the  number  of  the  Swiss,  who  had 
only  pieces  of  board  attached  to  their  left  arms  as  shields. 
Taught,  by  former  lessons,  to  dread  the  onset  of  the  Swiss,  the 
Austrians  dismounted,  placed  themselves  in  close  lines,  pre- 
senting, at  the  front,  a  barrier  of  pointed  spears,  which  no 
effort  of  the  Swiss  could  turn  aside  or  break  down.  Some  of 
their  ablest  warriors  fell  in  the  attempt.  Here  occurred  an 
instance  of  heroism  unsurpassed  by  any  on  record.  Arnold, 
of  Winkelried,  seeing  the  hopelessness  of  the  conflict  against 
this  barrier  of  spears,  exclaimed, — "  I  will  make  way  for  you, 
confederates — provide  for  my  children — honor  my  race ! " 
Then  running  and  springing  on  to  the  spears,  he  grasped 
several  of  them  in  his  arrqs,  and,  with  the  weight  of  his  body, 
brought  them  to  the  groundv-  A  way  was  thus  opened  over 
Arnold's  body,  and  it  was  well  used  by  the  confederates. 
Their  enemy  was  in  a  space  too  narrow  for  action ;  they  were 
sinking  under  the  excessive  heat  and  weight  of  armor.  The 
Swiss  were  unincumbered ;  and,*animated  with  their  natural 


296  SWITZERLAND. 

spirit,  and  stimulated  to  avenge  the  loss  of  some  of  their  most 
valued  associates.  The  Austrian  loss  was  six  hundred  of  the 
higher  and  lower  nobility,  and,  among  them,  duke  Leopold, 
and  two  thousand  armed  men  of  inferior  degree,  including 
knights.  The  Swiss  loss  amounted  to  two  hundred,  perhaps 
the  greatest  they  had  hitherto  experienced  in  any  one  battle. 

The  league  of  the  confederates  had  been  found  insufficient 
to  bring  their  united  force  against  enemies,  or  to  preserve 
peace  among  themselves.  Hitherto,  the  oath  formed  at  the 
meadow  of  Rutli,  in  1307,  was  the  only  bond*  of  union.  Soon 
after  this  battle  of  the  9th  of  July,  1386,  "  the  declaration  of 
Sempach"  was  formed,  which  was  designed  to  regulate  the 
interests  of  the  confederates,  as  among  themselves — to  repress 
disorders,  and  establish  a  secure  and  friendly  intercourse.  It 
provided,  also,  for  the  manner  in  which  the  enemies  of  the 
confederacy  were  to  be  met  and  resisted.  It  is  plain,  from 
some  of  the  provisions  of  this  instrument,  that  the  original 
simplicity  of  the  people  had  been  corrupted,  and  that  though 
they  still  retained  their  admirable  firmness  in  battle,  they  were 
not  insensible  of  the  value  of  plunder.  Both  the  empire  and 
Austria  were  inclined  to  leave  the  confederates  unmolested  by 
arms.  With  Austria,  a  peace  was  made  for  seven  years.  In 
1394  it  was  prolonged  for  twenty,  and,  in  1412,  for  fifty  years. 

In  the  north-east  part  of  Switzerland  is  the  lake  Constance. 
The  Rhine  flows  into  this  lake,  coming  down  from  the  south. 
West  of  the  Rhine,  and  south  of  the  lake,  are  the  lands  be- 
longing to  the  abbot  of  St.  Galle,  and  here  is  the  town  of  the 
same  name.  Adjoining  these  lands,  on  the  south,  is  the  canton 
of  Appenzel.  Over  this  canton,  the  abbot- had  the  rights  of  a 
sovereign.  These  he  caused  to  be  so  exercised,  as  to  create  a 
revolt  among  the  inhabitants.  They  united,  and  with  the  like 
bravery,  and  like  inferiority  of  military  force  as  among  the 
people  of  the  forest  cantons,  they,  like  them,  succeeded  in 
fighting  themselves  free.  As  usual,  the  reigning  duke  of 
Austria,  who  was  Frederick,  took  part  in  this  war  against  the 
people  of  Appenzel,  who  were  aided  by  some  volunteers  from 
the  Swiss.  In  1408,  the  canton  of  Appenzel  had  proved  itself 
worthy  of  being  received  into  the  confederacy,  and  became  the 
ninth  member.  About  a  century  had  elapsed  since  the  forest 
cantons,  in  the  time  of  William  Tell,  began  their  resistance  of 
the  house  of  Austria.  That  house  had  failed,  in  every  effort, 
to  reduce  the  Swiss  and  their  allies  to  obedience,  and  were 
now  ready  to  confirm  to  the  confederacy  all  their  conquests,  as 
the  price  of  peace. 


SWITZERLAND.  297 

When  the  members  of  the  confederacy  were  relieved  from 
the  necessity  of  uniting  and  defending  themselves  against  for- 
eign enemies,  they  had  leisure  and  inclination  to  contend  with 
each  other,  and  to  become  aggressors  themselves,  in  the  hope 
of  conquest.  An  opportunity  arose  to  manifest  such  disposi- 
tions in  the  year  1414.  In  that  year  the  great  ecclesiastical 
council  was  held,  at  the  city  of  Constance,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  lake  of  that  name.  At  this  council,  pope  John  XXIII. 
was  present,  but  his  right  to  be  considered  pope  being  ques- 
tioned, he  fled  from  the  council,  and  was  protected  by  Freder- 
ick, duke  of  Austria.  The  duke  having  thus  fallen  under 
the  displeasure  of  the  council,  the  Swiss  confederacy  were 
invited  to  invade  the  duke's  territories,  situated  north-westward- 
ly  of  Lucerne,  in  the  valley  of  the  river  Aar.  The  earnest 
persuasions  of  the  council  and  the  emperor  Sigismund  (who 
was  of  this  council)  embodied  the  men  of  Berne  first,  and 
then  those  of  all  the  other  members  of  the  confederacy,  (but 
Uri  and  Appenzel,)  and,  within  a  few  days,  the  whole  terri- 
tory along  the  Aar,  and  thence  north-eastwardly  to  the  Reuss, 
was  conquered.  The  Swiss,  hitherto,  had  no  other  object  than 
to  defend  their  native  land  from  conquest ;  they  had  now 
become  conquerors  themselves.  Bailiwicks  were  established 
over  their  new  subjects.  Instead  of  acquiring  a  benefit,  the 
members  of  the  confederacy  only  laid  the  foundation  of  lasting 
contentions  among  themselves.  To  the  honor  of  Uri  and 
Appenzel,  they  would  take  no  part  in  the  new  conquests. 

There  is  not  space  to  enter  into  the  causes  of  the  contentions 
and  wars  among  the  confederates  themselves.  The  conquests 
which  had  been  made — the  arrogance  of  some  of  the  members 
— the  dissatisfaction  of  others — the  right  of  passing  with  mer- 
chandise— the  imposition  of  tolls  and  duties,  were  among 
these  causes.  There  may  be  added  another  cause,  which  em- 
braces and  includes  all  others:  the  natural  disposition  of  man- 
kind to  unite  in  conquering  others,  and  to  quarrel  among 
themselves  when  that  is  done.  Thus,  by  a  series  of  offensive 
measures,  Zurich  had  drawn  upon  herself  the  united  hostility 
of  all  the  other  members.  In  1440,  this  city  and  its  territories 
experienced  the  full  force  of  that  military  spirit  which  had 
been  so  often  used  by  herself  and  associates  against  the  com- 
mon enemy,  the  empire  and  Austria.  The  cantons  of  Schwitz 
and  Glarus  had  respectively  conquered  territories  of  Zurich, 
and,  when  peace  was  made,  insisted  on  retaining  them.  Hum- 
bled and  mortified,  Zurich  sought  to  retrieve  her  fortunes  by 
forming  an  alliance  with  Austria. 


298  SWITZERLAND. 

In  July,  1443,  all  the  confederates  appeared  in  arms  against 
Zurich  and  her  new  ally,  Austria.  None  of  the  people  of 
Zurich  canton  were  safe,  except  within  the  Avails  of  the  city. 
A  garrison  at  Griefensee,  ten  miles  east  of  Zurich,  surren- 
dered to  the  confederates  after  a  siege  of  four  weeks,  and  sixty- 
two  of  the.captured  were  beheaded.  This  act  imparts  a  new 
character  to  Swiss  affairs.  It  was  the  first  case  of  putting  to 
death,  in  cold  blood,  among  the  old  members  of  the  league. 
Probably  the  spirit  of  enmity  was  more  bitter  and  implacable 
among  the  members,  than  between  themselves  and  any  enemy 
against  whom  they  had  united. 

While  this  war  was  raging,  the  dauphin  of  France,  (son  of 
Charles  VII.,)  so  well  known  afterwards  as  Louis  XL,  had 
embodied  an  army,  and  was  moving  to  attack  the  city  of  Basle, 
which  is  at  the  great  bend  of  the  Rhine,  one  hundred  and  ten 
miles  nearly  north-west  from  Lucerne.  Basle  had  been  in 
alliance  with  the  confederates,  and  was,  itself,  at  this  time,  one 
of  the  free  cities.  The  Swiss  sent  sixteen  hundred  to  the 
assistance  of  Basle.  The  battle  of  "  St.  Jacob  by  Basle,"  was 
fought  in  1444,  in  which  the  conflict  continued  ten  hours,  and 
all  the  Swiss,  but  ten,  were  slain.  The  French  purchased  a 
very  costly  victory,  and"  acquired  such  knowledge  of  Swiss 
bravery  as  to  avoid  an  encounter  wTith  it  in  future.  In  the 
course  of  this  year  (1444)  peace  was  established.  The  alli- 
ance of  Zurich  and  Austria  was  annulled,  and  the  confede- 
rates resumed  their  ancient  relation. 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 

Wars  of  the  Swiss  with  German  Emperors —  With  Louis  XL  of  France-^ 
With  Charles  of  Burgundy — Remarkable  Battles — Character  of  the 
Siviss  in  1500. 

The  prominent  characters  in  the  affairs  of  Switzerland, 
within  the  period  from  1450 — 1477,  were  these  :  1.  Sigismund, 
duke  of  Austria.  2.  Charles  the  Rash,  duke  of  Burgundy. 
3.  Louis  XL,  king  of  France.  Ambition,  envy,  hatred,  and 
avarice,  brought  these  three  persons  into  action,  and  brought 
the  whole  force  of  the  Swiss  cantons  into  action  also.  The 
lessons  which  the  house  of  Austria  had  received  from  the 
cantons  were  forgotten,  and  every  new  successor  to  the  ducal 
sovereignty  still  asserted  a  right  over  ancient  hereditary  do- 


SWITZERLAND.  299 

minions.  Sigismund  was  the  admitted  sovereign  of  some 
territories  situated  along  the  valley  of  the  river  Aar,  and  of 
Alsace,  a  country  situate  along  the  west  bank  of  the  Rhine, 
and  was  claimant  of  sovereignty  over  towns  and  territories 
within  the  limits  of  Switzerland.  As  to  these  towns  and  ter- 
ritories, Sigismund  was  nominal  sovereign  only,  and  was 
without  ability  to  enforce  his  claims.  Charles  the  Rash  was 
sovereign  over  all  the  Netherlands,  that  is,  over  Holland  and 
Belgium.  Adjoining  the  Netherlands  on  the  south,  and  west 
of  Alsace,  was  the  duchy  of  Lorraine,  (now  part  of  France,) 
which  then  belonged  to  the  duke  Rene,  of  the  ancient  house 
of  Anjou.  Lorraine  separated  Luxemburg  from  Franche 
Compte ;  both  of  these  were  within  the  dominions  of  Charles. 
If  Charles  could  acquire  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  he  hoped  to 
extend  his  dominions  from  the  North  sea  to  the  Mediterranean, 
and  to  erect  them  into  a  kingdom  superior  to  that  of  France, 
and  little  inferior  in  unity  and  effectiveness,  even  to  the  German 
empire.  With  such  views,  Charles  advanced  to  Sigismund  a 
large  sum,  and  took  a  mortgage  on  all  the  Austrian  dominions 
in  Switzerland,  and  between  this  country  and  France,  and  west 
of  the  Rhine.  Charles  went  immediately  into  possession  of 
the  ceded  property,  except  that  in  Switzerland.  To  possess 
that  portion,  he  had  something  more  to  do  than  to  demand  it  of 
the  Swiss.  The  third  personage  in  this  new  drama,  was  Louis 
XI.  of  France.  Cold,  calculating,  malicious,  perfidious,  he 
cherished  an  inveterate  hatred  for  the  duke  of  Burgundy,  and 
had  abundant  reason  to  fear  that  the  duke  would  acquire  a 
mastery.  Louis  understood  the  character  of  the  Swiss,  from 
his  personal  experience  at,  and  near  Basle.  To  secure  him- 
self and  his  kingdom  both  from  Charles  and  the  Swiss,  he 
devoted  his  talents  and  his  money,  to  bring  these  two  parties 
into  conflict,  remaining  neutral  himself.  Charles  was  so 
unfortunate  in  his  policy,  as  to  promote  essentially  the  purposes 
of  Louis. 

Charles  appointed  a  cruel,  tyrannical,  and  rapacious  gov- 
ernor to  rule  over  his  new  Austrian  acquisitions,  immediately 
on  the  north-western  frontier  of  Switzerland.  The  conduct  of 
this  man,  Peter  Von  Hagenbach,  excited  the  indignation  of 
the  people  whom  he  -was  sent  to  govern.  Remonstrances 
were  offered  to  Charles,  but  were  answered  only  by  neglect  or 
insult.  The  Swiss  were  reminded  that  they  were  interested 
in  this  matter,  and  that  Charles  had  them  in  view,  to  be  dealt 
with  in  due  time.  The  proper  occasion  had  arisen  for  the 
Swiss  to  move.     They  authorized  the  city  of  Berne  to  make 


300  SWITZERLAND. 

an  alliance  with  Louis  of  France,  to  resist  the  duke  of  Bur- 
gundy. Louis  readily  entered  into  this  alliance,  so  far  as  to 
advance  money  for  public  uses,  and  as  his  practice  was,  to 
purchase  every  man  whom  he  thought  capable  of  serving  him. 
These  arrangements  having  been  made,  the  means  of  coming 
to  blows  were  of  daily  occurrence.  Some  audacious  act  of 
Hagenbach  caused  him  to  be  taken  and  beheaded  by  the 
opponents  of  Charles.  The  inhabitants  of  Alsace,  desirous 
of  getting  rid  of  Charles,  offered  to  advance  the  money  to 
Sigismund,  to  redeem  from  Charles  the  mortgaged  territories 
and  towns.  Charles  refused  to  release  his  mortgage.  Austria 
now  gladly  joined  the  Swiss  against  Charles.  Thus  the  am- 
bitious Charles  the  Rash  had  united  Austria,  France,  and 
Switzerland  against  him.  These  were  not  all;  for  at  the  same 
time,  in  some  negotiations  with  the  German  emperor,  now 
Frederick  IV.,  he  also  was  added  to  the  enemies  of  Charles. 
But  Charles  was  rich,  abundant  in  resources,  skilled  in  war, 
and  was  the  last,  among  friends  or  foes,  to  think  of  defeat  and 
disaster  in  connection  with  himself. 

The  execution  of  Hagenbach,  which  Charles  took  no 
measure  to  prevent,  placed  the  parties  in  the  relation  of  bellig- 
erents. In  October,  1474,  the  Swiss  penetrated  into  Franche 
Compte,  defeated  all  opponents,  and  returned  enriched  by 
plunder.  Immediately  after,  an  order  was  passed  in  a  Swiss 
council,  which  shows  the  growing  degeneracy.  The  exces- 
sive use  of  wine,  in  battle,  was  prohibited;  and  a  guard  was 
placed  in  the  rear  ranks,  commissioned  to  cut  down  all  who 
should  leave  fighting,  to  gather  plunder. 

An  alliance  between  such  enemies  as  the  Swiss  now  had, 
and  from  the  most  selfish  and  sordid  motives,  was  liable  to 
terminate,  in  whole,  or  in  part,  whenever  like  motives,  more 
powerful,  should  arise.  The  emperor  of  Germany,  hoping  to 
obtain  Charles's  only  daughter  and  heiress  for  his  son,  made 
peace  without  regard  to  the  Swiss.  Louis,  from  similar  mo- 
tives, made  a  truce  of  nine  years  with  Charles.  The  Swiss 
had  been  warned  by  some  of  their  sages,  that  such  might  be 
their  fate.  As-the  aid  of  Austria  was  insignificant,  the  Swiss 
had  now  to  encounter  Charles,  alone.  Meanwhile  Charles 
had  conquered  Lorraine,  and  had  nothing  more  to  do  than  to 
subject  and  to  punish  the  audacious  confederacy  of  Switzer- 
land. 

It  is  represented  by  a  contemporary  historian,  (Philip  de 
Comines,)  that  the  warriors  assembled  by  Charles  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  1476,  to  chastise  the  Swiss,  amounted  to 


SWITZERLAND.  301 

fifty  thousand.  The  followers,  or  associates  of  this  army,  male 
and  female,  are  computed  at  an  equal  number.  In  fact,  this 
camp  was  the  court  of  Charles  the  Rash :  not  only  were  the 
distinguished  personages  usually  found  in  a  camp,  present,  but 
Charles  had  brought  with  him  his  precious  treasures  in  silver, 
gold,  and  jewels.  The  whole  scene  is  described  rather  as  an 
excursion  for  social  pleasures,  on  an  extended  scale,  than  as 
the  progress  of  an  invading  army. 

At  the  south-west  end  of  the  lake  Neuchatel,  and  at  the 
distance  of  seventy-five  miles  west  from  Lucerne,  and  about 
the  same  distance  south-west  from  Basle,  is  the  small  territory 
of  Granson:  the  chief  town  has  the  same  name,  and  was  a 
fortified  place.  In  February,  1476,  Charles  took  Granson  by 
storm,  and  forced  the  garrison  into  the  citadel.  Famine  and 
promises  induced  tne  garrison  to  surrender.  If  Charles  had 
known  the  character  of  the  people,  of  whom  a  few  had  thus 
fallen  into  his  power,  he  would  have  taken  a  very  different 
course  with  these  few.  Relying  on  his  numbers  and  power, 
and  expecting  to  intimidate  all  Switzerland,  he  ordered  half  of 
the  captives  to  be  hung  on  the  trees,  and  the  other  half  to  be 
drowned  in  the  lake. 

An  army  of  twenty  thousand  Swiss  had  been  gathered  on 
the  other  side  of  the  lake,  (Neuchatel,)  but  near  enough  to 
have  heard  of  this  tragedy,  on  the  very  day  when  it  occurred. 
Very  different  were  the  feelings  and  emotions  in  the  two 
camps,  on  that  day.  In  that  of  the  Burgundians,  confidence, 
security,  and  pleasure,  reigned;  while  in  that  of  the  Swiss, 
every  bosom  felt  a  deep,  determined,  insatiable  desire  of  re- 
venge. On  the  3d  of  March,  1476,  the  Swiss  moved  from 
the  neighborhood  of  Neuchatel,  along  the  north-western  side 
of  the  lake,  towards  Granson,  where  the  duke  was  skilfully 
posted  with  a  force  thrice  as  numerous  as  that  of  the  Swiss. 
The  force  of  the  duke  comprised  artillery,  which  had  come 
into  general  use  at  this  time.  It  was  impossible  for  the  Swiss 
to  assail  the  duke,  so  entrenched.  In  the  hope  of  drawing  him 
forth,  a  castle,  in  which  some  of  Charles's  followers  had  taken 
their  residence,  was  attacked.  This  measure  drew  Charles 
into  the  conflict;  and  the  Swiss  awaited  him  in  a  position 
where  neither  his  artillery  nor  cavalry  could  be  brought  into 
action.     A  tremendous  conflict  ensued. 

The  exact  circumstances,  and  the  very  agents,  on  which  the 

fate  of  most  battles  turned,  are  set  forth  in  historical  accounts 

with  a  precision  which  is  somewhat  surprising.     If  one  were 

giving  an  account  of  a  single  battle,  he  would  inquire  into 

26 


302  SWITZERLAND. 

minute  particulars,  and  do  justice  (to  the  best  of  his  ability)  to 
good  conduct,  and  to  professional  excellence.  But,  knowing 
how  difficult  it  is,  in  one's  own  time,  to  arrive  at  facts,  military 
or  civil,  some  distrust  is  awakened  as  to  statements  of  ancient 
events.  Besides,  these  statements  have  been  recast  so  frequent- 
"  ly,  that  they  are  often  inconsistent  and  irreconcilable.  There 
are  many  versions  of  this  battle  of  Granson.  All  of  them  have 
a  basis  of  truth ;  which  of  them  is  truest,  no  one  can  affirm. 
It  is  enough,  for  so  general  a  purpose  as  this,  to  state  that  there 
was  a  battle,  the  time,  the  place,  and  the  consequences.  All 
accounts  agree  that  Charles  the  Rash,  and  his  host  of  armed 
and  gallant  nobles,  knights,  and  gentlemen,  were  completely 
defeated,  slain,  or  put  to  flight;  and  that  the  defeat  was  so 
effective,  and  so  rapid,  and  so  thorough,  that  there  must  have 
been  a  general  panic  ;  for  the  whole  of  Charles's  camp,  his 
provisions,  his  baggage,  and  his  treasures,  fell  into  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Swiss.  Comines  says,  this  defeat  was  so  ruinous, 
so  distressing,  and  so  humiliating  to  Charles,  that  he  is  sup- 
posed never  to  have  had  the  full  use  of  his  understanding,  at 
any  time,  afterwards.  It  will  not  be  doubted,  from  the  charac- 
ter of  this  age,  and  the  disposition  of  the  Swiss,  that  they  spared 
no  one ;  nor  that  they  took  vindictive,  perhaps  savage  vengeance, 
on  such  prisoners  as  fell  into  their  hands. 

There  are  many  accounts,  not  agreeing  with  each  other,  as 
to  the  treasure  found  in  Charles's  camp.  At  this  time,  (towards 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,)  there  had  been  and  was,  an 
enriching  commerce  in  the  Netherlands,  where  Charles  was 
sovereign.  Several  opulent  cities  there  had  commerce  with 
the  north  of  Europe,  with  London,  and  with  the  south  of 
Europe.  Charles  had  the  means  of  accumulating  great  riches 
without  oppressive  exactions.  He  is  represented  to  have  been 
much  given  to  magnificence  and  splendor.  It  is  very  possible, 
therefore,  that  "  gold  was  shared  by  hatfuls;  "  and  that  "  dia- 
monds, which  now  adorn  the  most  magnificent  crowns  in 
Europe,  were  first  ignorantly  thrown  aside,  and  then  sold  for 
trifling  sums."  A  credible  authority  says,  "  Plate  was  flung 
away  as  pewter.  The  large  diamond  which  the  duke  usually 
wore  at  his  neck,  was  found  in  a  box  of  pearls ;  at  first  rejected 
as  a  bauble,  it  was  taken  up,  and  sold  for  a  single  crown.  It 
was  afterwards  purchased  by  the  pope,  for  twenty  thousand 
ducats,  and  still  adorns  the  papal  tiara.  Another  diamond, 
taken  there,  was  bought  by  Henry  VIII.,  of  England:  his 
daughter  Mary  gave  it  to  Philip  II.,  her  husband ;  and  it  now 
belongs  to  Austria." 


SWITZERLAND.  303 

Charles  well  deserved  the  name  of  Rash.  He  devoted  him- 
self to  gather  another  army  ;  and,  disdaining  to  listen  to  any 
terms  of  peace  or  truce,  he  found  himself  at  the  head  of  a  force 
little  less  strong  in  numbers  than  that  so  lately  overthrown. 
In  the  month  of  June,  in  the  same  year,  (1476,)  he  besieged  a 
Swiss  garrison  at  Morat.  This  place  is  situated  on  a  lake  of 
the  same  name,  on  the  south-east  side  of  lake  Neuchatel. 
The  town  of  Morat  is  fifty-five  miles  west  of  Lucerne,  and 
fifteen,  nearly,  west  of  Berne.  The  Swiss  who  were  of  the 
forest  cantons,  and  others  still  more  remote,  were  disinclined 
to  engage,  anew,  in  this  warfare.  They  regarded  it  rather  as 
an  affair  of  the  canton  of  Berne,  than  of  themselves.  This 
feeling  gave  way  to  better  ones,  and  a  force  appeared  near 
Morat,  to  encounter  the  enemy.  A  body  of  Austrian  cavalry 
were  allied  with  the  Swiss,  who  advised  that  a  defence  should 
be  made  of  baggage-wagons,  and  that  the  attack  of  the  enemy 
should  be  waited  for.  But  Felix  Keller,  of  Zurich,  answered, 
that  the  confederates  were  wont  to  be  beforehand  with  their 
enemies.  If  the  words  spoken,  and  the  acts  done,  at  this  time, 
have  been  truly  recorded  and  transmitted,  they  were,  according 
to  one  historian,  these  :  "  God  with  us  against  the  world, " 
cried  Hallwyl  to  his  followers.  At  this  instant  the  sun  broke 
through  the  heavy  clouds  which  had  veiled  it.  "  Heaven 
lights  us  to  victory,"  he  exclaimed,  waving  his  sword.  "  For- 
ward! think  of  your  wives  and  children  !  Youths  !  think  of 
your  loved  ones ;  yield  them  not  up  to  the  lewd  and  Godless 
enemy !  " 

In  this  battle,  as  in  that  of  Granson,  the  Burgundians  were 
defeated  with  great  slaughter.  A  large  body  of  English  had 
been  taken  into  the  duke's  service.  Their  skill  and  valor  had 
no  other  effect,  than  to  make  the  defeat  more  costly  and  de- 
structive to  their  number. 

Meanwhile  the  province  of  Lorraine  had  revolted  from 
Charles.  He  next  turned  his  attention  to  reconquer  it.  The 
young  duke  Rene,  who  had  fought  with  the  Swiss  at  Morat, 
prevailed  on  them  to  aid  him  in  defending  his  inheritance. 
He  led  eight  thousand  to  Lorraine,  and,  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1476,  in  a  battle  fought  near  Nancy,  (two  hundred  miles 
east  of  Paris,)  Charles  was  slain.  Thus,  in  one  year,  the 
duke  of  Burgundy,  by  his  own  ungovernable  will,  and  against 
the  counsels  of  able  men,  lost  a  great  amount  of  personal 
property,  sacrificed  thousands  of  lives,  and  at  last  his  own  life. 
In  all  this,  he  caused  numerous  and  heavy  calamities,  and 
gratified  no  mortal  but  his  cunning  enemy,  the  king  of  France. 


304  SWITZERLAND. 

These  victories,  however  glorious  to  Swiss  bravery,  changed 
the  motive  from  the  original  one  of  patriotism  and  love  of 
liberty,  to  avarice  and  venality.  From  this  time  may  be  dated 
the  regular  sale  of  Swiss  blood  to  foreign  countries;  and  the 
making  of  Swiss  skill  and  courage,  marketable  articles.  No 
one  sooner  perceived  this,  or  more  effectively  used  the  Swiss, 
than  Louis  XI.  From  this  time,  also,  may  be  dated  the  loss 
of  that  extraordinary  and  admirable  spirit  which  first  disclosed 
itself  in  the  solitude  of  the  meadow  of  Rutli,  overhung  by  the 
solemn  mountain.  Henceforward  the  young  men  of  Switzer- 
land thought  of  the  intense  interest  of  military  life,  and  of  the 
gold  it  would  obtain,  whether  in  plunder  or  wages.  The 
whole  population  of  Switzerland  is  supposed  to  have  been  about 
two  millions.  Of  this  number  there  were,  as  it  is  said,  from 
fifty  to  sixty  thousand  who  were  warriors  by  profession.  When 
not  engaged  in  war,  they  became  dissolute  and  unmanageable. 
They  gave  themselves  up  to  practices  which  demanded  the 
severest  penalties.  In  a  single  year,  one  thousand  and  five 
hundred  are  supposed  to  have  been  executed  for  various  de- 
scriptions of  crime. 

Before  the  end  of  this  century,  (about  1480,)  the  Swiss  are 
heard  of  in  Italy.  They  had  passed  beyond  Mt.  St.  Gothard, 
from  the  south  end  of  the  canton  of  Uri,  and  had  invaded  the 
territories  of  Milan.  Here  they  encountered  Visconti,  duke 
of  Milan  ;  at  first,  much  to  their  disadvantage.  But  on  another 
occasion,  they  flooded  the  meadows,  through  which  the  Ticino 
flows  southwardly,  with  the  waters  of  that  river.  When  the 
ice  had  formed  sufficiently  to  bear  them,  six  hundred  of  them 
put  on  skates,  and  attacked  and  defeated  an  Italian  force  of 
fifteen  thousand.  Peace  followed,  and  Uri  acquired  the  val 
Levantina  and  the  val  Brugiasco. 

Very  serious  difficulties  had  arisen  among  the  confederates 
on  two  subjects:  the  one  was  the  partition  of  the  Burgundian 
spoils ;  the  other,  the  admission  of  the  two  towns,  Freyberg 
and  Soleure,  into  the  confederacy.  The  forest  cantons  strenu- 
ously opposed  the  admission  of  these  towns.  A  great  meeting 
was  held  at  Stanz,  eight  miles  south  of  Lucerne.  The  discus- 
sion assumed  a  very  serious  character.  All  hope  of  compro- 
mise had  vanished.  All  parties  believed  that  the  sword  must 
be  the  only  arbitrator.  In  this  moment  of  extreme  excitement, 
historians  recount  the  sudden  appearance,  in  the  assembly,  of  a 
hermit,  named  Nicolas  of  the  Flue.  If  there  was  such  an 
austere  and  secluded  person,  if  he  did  appear  on  that  occasion, 
if  he  uttered  the  words  imputed  to  him,  he  certainly  rendered 


SWITZERLAND.  305 

a  most  important  service  to  his  countrymen.  Nicolas  had 
been  a  brave  warrior,  but  had  long  been  secluded,  leading-  a 
most  abstemious  life,  and  intent  only  on  his  pious  duties.  The 
accurate  knowledge  which  his  speech  discloses  of  the  state  of 
the  world,  (of  which  he  could  not  be  said  to  be  a  member,)  is 
not  accounted  for.  "  You  have  become  strong,"  he  said,  "  by 
the  force  of  union;  and  will  you  now  sever  that  union  for  the 
sake  of  a  wretched  booty  1  Far  be  it,  that  surrounding  lands 
should  ever  hear  such  things  of  you.  Let  not  the  towns  insist 
on  claims  injurious  to  the  old  confederates.  Let  the  country 
places  remember  how  Soleure  and  Freyberg  fought  at  their 
sides,  and  freely  receive  them  into  the  confederacy.  Beware 
of  foreign  intrigues.  Confederates !  beware  of  internal  dis- 
cords !  Far  be  it  from  any  to  take  gold  as  the  price  of  their 
father-land."  This  very  sensible  speech  had  the  desired  effect. 
The  two  towns  were  admitted ;  and  Nicolas  could  not  have 
had  time  to  reach  his  cell,  before  all  controversies  were  ami- 
cably adjusted.  Freyberg  is  west  by  south  from  Lucerne, 
sixty  miles  ;  and  Soleure  is  on  the  Aar,  about  forty  miles  north- 
west from  Lucerne. 

At  this  meeting  the  covenant  of  Stanz  was  adopted,  which 
was  a  revision  of  the  principles  of  the  confederacy.  This 
covenant  (as  might  be  supposed  in  that  age)  was  not  founded 
on  political  science,  nor  does  it  contain  any  division  of  powers, 
checks,  or  balances.  The  sole  object  seems  to  have  been  to 
point  out  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  confederate  members. 
Force  was  the  only  remedy  when  disagreements  arose,  if  the 
great  council  of  delegates  could  not  find  a  remedy.  The 
several  members  having  reserved  many  powers  to  themselves, 
difficulties  often  occurred  on  the  point,  whether,  in  the  exercise 
of  these  powers,  the  interests  of  the  confederates  were  affected. 
If  the  people  of  Uri  chose  to  engage  in  a  foreign  war,  for 
example,  ought  this  to  be  regarded  as  involving  the  con- 
federacy 1 

Such  questions  necessarily  arose,  because  the  neighboring 
countries  were  almost  incessantly  engaged  in  war.  Germany 
was  contending  with  the  Turks  on  its  eastern  border,  and  with 
France  on  the  west.  France  was  contending  with  Germany 
and  with  Italy;  while  Italy  was  contending,  internally  and  ex- 
ternally, without  cessation.  The  Swiss  were  in  the  midst  of 
these  contending  parties,  and  courted  and  feared  by  all  of 
them.  The  part  which  the  Swiss  took  with  France  against 
Italy,  and  consequently  adverse  both  to  the  empire  and  to 
26* 


306  SWITZERLAND. 

Austria,  (as  to  their  interests  in  Italy,)  brought  these  two 
powers  again  into  conflict  with  the  Swiss.  The  emperor 
Maximilian  represented  both  these  powers,  and  approached 
the  Swiss  on  their  eastern  frontier  through  the  Tyrol.  The 
principal  seat  of  the  war  was  in  the  territories  of  the  Gri- 
sons,  which  is  east  of  Uri,  south  of  Appenzel,  west  of  the 
Tyroi.  Some  severe  battles  were  fought  here,  in  which  the 
Grisons  (who,  as  warriors,  now  make  their  first  appearance) 
were  eminently  successful.  The  people  of  the  neighboring 
cantons  assisted  them,  and  the  Grisons  were  received  as  allies, 
but  not  into  full  confederacy.  At  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, (September,  1499,)  the  emperor  made  peace  with  the 
Swiss,  and  thereby  confirmed  their  ancient  rights  and  con- 
quests. From  this  time  no  attempt  was  ever  made  to  dissolve 
the  union  of  the  confederates,  or  to  annex  their  territories,  or 
any  part  of  them,  to  the  German  empire.  Thus,  it  required 
about  two  centuries  (1307 — 1499)  and  many  serious  battles,  to 
establish  the  independence  of  the  Swiss  people.  At  the  end 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  confederacy  comprised  the  cantons 
of  Schwitz,  Underwalden,  Uri,  Zug,  Appenzel,  Glarus,  and 
the  cities  of  Lucerne,  Zurich,  Berne,  Freyberg,  Soleure,  and 
their  appendages  ;  besides  these,  many  free  towns  and  cities 
were  in  alliance  with  some  of  these  members.  The  exten- 
sive regions  of  the  Grisons  were  in  alliance,  but  not  mem- 
bers. 

Geneva  is  situated  at  the  western  end  of  the  lake  of  the 
same  name,  and  on  the  extreme  west  of  Switzerland.  It  was 
not  numbered  among  the  confederates  of  the  Swiss  cantons 
until  after  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  was  a  very 
ancient  city,  existing  when  Helvetia  was  first  known  to  the 
Romans.  After  the  fifteenth  century,  Geneva  acquired  great 
celebrity ;  before  that  time,  its  history  has  nothing  interesting. 
It  was  part  of  Charlemagne's  empire,  and,  in  common  with 
Helvetia,  part  of  the  German  empire.  Nearly  the  whole  of 
the  fifteenth  century  was  passed  in  contending  with  the  dukes 
of  Savoy,  who  attempted,  unsuccessfully,  to  make  the  city  and 
its  dependent  territories  part  of  their  dominions.  Savoy  lies 
south  of  Geneva  lake. 

Neuchatel  is  usually  included  in  ancient  Helvetia  and  in 
modern  Switzerland.  Its  chief  city  is  situated  on  the  north- 
western side  of  the  lake  of  the  same  name.  The  whole  ter- 
ritory is  thirty-six  miles  long  and  eighteen  wide,  and  well  peo- 
pled.    Its  origin  must  be  found   in  the  territorial  partitions 


SWITZERLAND.  307 

which  arose  on  the  dismemberment  and  fall  of  the  Roman 
empire.  The  first  of  its  sovereigns,  mentioned  in  history,  was 
Ulric.  In  1214,  his  son  Bertold  "made  a  convention  with  the 
inhabitants  concerning  the  rights,  liberties,  and  franchises  of 
the  citizens  and  people  of  the  country."  These  rights  and 
liberties  have  been  confirmed  at  different  times.  Neuchatel 
has  passed,  in  respect  to  its  sovereign,  (who  had  not  much 
more  than  nominal  power,)  through  many  families,  by  mar- 
riage and  inheritance.  In  1406,  a  person  called  John  of  Cha- 
lons, was  the  sovereign  prince ;  next,  the  house  of  Orleans 
Longueville ;  then  William,  prince  of  Orange  and  king  of 
England,  claimed  as  heir  of  the  house  of  Chalons.  After  his 
death,  the  heirship  of  the  king  of  Prussia  was  asserted  and 
admitted.  Neuchatel  is  now  distinguished  (in  1837)  on  the 
maps  as  part  of  the  Prussian  dominions.  It  was  never  one 
of  the  confederated  cantons,  but  maintained  a  fellow-citizenship 
of  very  ancient  date,  with  Berne,  Lucerne,  Freyberg,  and 
Soleure.  Berne  was  regarded,  ever  since  1406,  as  its  particu- 
lar friend  and  protector. 

In  the  south-east  of  Switzerland  is  the  extensive  country  of 
the  Grisons,  comprising  a  large  part  of  ancient  Rhetia.  Three 
leagues  had  been  formed  in  this  territory,  known  in  modern 
times  as  the  league  of  the  ten  jurisdictions,  the  league  of  God's 
house,  and  the  Grey  league.  This  confederacy  was  formed 
in  1472,  or,  rather,  re-formed  at  that  time.  The  whole  coun- 
try is  about  one  hundred  and  five  miles  by  ninety  miles  in 
extent.  The  aspect  of  this  country  is  rather  towards  Italy,  as 
that  of  the  north  of  Switzerland  is  towards  Germany.  The 
Grisons  appear  very  little  in  the  affairs  of  Germany  and  the 
north,  during  the  centuries  now  under  review.  Their  country- 
is  even  more  extraordinary  than  other  parts  of  the  Alpine 
regions,  in  its  mountains  and  vallies.  No  one  of  its  vallies  is 
less  than  3234  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea ;  the  highest 
village  is  5600  feet  above  that  level. 

The  Tyrol,  eastwardly  of  the  Grisons,  has  fallen  under 
Austrian  dominion,  and  its  history  mingles  with  that  of  Aus- 
tria. 

During  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  the  Swiss  are 
seen  to  have  met  the  armies  of  Germany,  France,  and  Burgundy, 
with  numbers  far  inferior  to  those  of  their  enemies,  and  to 
have  been  almost  invariably  victorious.  They  once  met  the 
Italians  with  adverse  result,  but  at  all  other  times  with  as 
favorable  results  as  attended  them  in  the  north.      Whence 


308  SWITZERLAND. 

came  this  remarkable  trait  in  national  character  ?  It  has  been 
suggested  that  the  Swiss  were  of  Grecian  descent.  If  this 
were  so,  they  had  preserved  no  evidence  of  language  or  cus- 
toms peculiarly  Grecian.  Was  it  the  nature  of  the  country 
which  they  inhabited  1  Their  deep  vallies  and  awful  moun- 
tains, their  simple  and  pastoral  vocations,  do  not  appear  to 
have  been  adapted  to  cherish  a  warlike  spirit.  They  were 
not  imitators.  They  knew  none  whom  they  could  imitate. 
They  did  not  follow  the  example  of  those  who  had  come  with- 
in their  knowledge.  They  were  triumphant  over  their  foes, 
not  only  when  they  attacked  them  from  mountain  summits, 
but  when  encountered  in  the  low-lands,  and  where  the  battle- 
ground secured  no  superiority.  Their  valor  was  not  surpass- 
ed by  Greeks  or  Romans,  even  in  the  best  days  of  either  of 
these  nations.  We  know  not  that  Swiss  skill  and  courage 
has  ever  been  accounted  for. 

In  other  respects,  this  people  were  not  superior  to  their 
contemporaries.  They  were  not  an  educated  people.  They 
were  superstitious,  but  not  subjected  to  the  priesthood.  The 
secluded  portion,  occupied  in  agriculture,  simple  manufactures, 
and  pastoral  life,  were  innocent  and  moral,  compared  with 
their  northern  neighbors;  but  no  superiority  is  affirmed  of 
them,  in  these  respects,  in  their  towns.  It  may  be,  that,  hav- 
ing little  to  engross  attention,  and  having  been  so  entirely  suc- 
cessful in  their  early  conflicts,  they  cultivated  a  sentiment  of 
national  glory  to  which  all  other  sentiments  were  secondary. 
They  were,  comparatively,  poor.  Success  was  not  only  vic- 
tory, but  riches.  It  may  be  that  the  hope  of  plunder  became 
'one  of  the  motives  which  led  to  their  eminent  renown  as 
warriors.  This  is  the  more  probable,  since  it  is  seen  that 
they  were  willing,  before  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  to 
appropriate  their  skill  and  valor  to  any  power  that  could  best 
tempt  their  avarice. 

We  here  leave  the  Swiss,  to  bring  them  again  into  view 
during  the  three  last  centuries. 


309 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

ITALY. 

Gothic  Kingdom—  Reign  of  Theodoric — Lombards — Belisarius— Narses — 
Italian  Language. 

From  the  year  500  to  1000,  there  is  neither  instruction  nor 
interest  in  Italian  events.  In  the  next  five  centuries,  they  were 
highly  important,  and  produced  lasting  consequences.  The 
repeated  invasions  by  the  German  emperors — the  resistance  of 
the  Italian  republics — their  commercial  grandeur — lheir  wars 
with  each  other — their  internal  revolutions,  and  their  final  sub- 
jection to  usurpers,  are  among  the  elements  of  Italian  history. 
The  temporal  dominion  of  the  Roman  church  belongs  to  this 
portion  of  history,  as  its  seat  of  empire  was  the  city  of  Rome. 
Hence  it  sent  forth  its  commands,  its  menaces,  and  its  terrible 
judgments.  That  astonishing  delusion,  which  spoiled  Europe 
of  millions  of  lives,  and  nearly  all  its  treasure,  during  two  cen- 
turies, began,  and  was  continued,  on  the  papal  throne.  The 
far  more  important  fact  is,  that  to  tenants  of  this  throne  must 
be  imputed  the  deliberate  purpose  (whatever  motives  may- 
have  been)  to  establish  a  despotism,  not  only  over  property  and 
personal  liberty,  but  over  the  human  mind.  The  audacity,  the 
profligacy,  and  the  crimes,  of  some  of  these  self-styled  repre- 
sentatives of  saint  Peter,  are  hardly  paralleled  among  the 
most  depraved  of  temporal  princes. 

After  having  drawn,  from  the  first  five  centuries,  such  intro- 
ductory facts  as  the  present. purpose  requires,  such  of  the  sec- 
ond five  centuries  as  are  deemed  material,  will  be  brought  to 
view.  But  this  view  must  be  a  very  general  one,  since  a  few 
pages  only  can  be  devoted  to  the  train  of  events  to  which  the 
indefatigable  Sismondi  has  devoted  sixteen  volumes. 

The  notice  of  Italy  in  the  first  pari  of  these  sketches,  ended 
with  the  conquest  of  the  Romans  in  476,  by  Odoacer,  who  led 
the  Heruli,  (a  division  of  the  Goths,)  and  who  made  himself 
king  of  Italy.  The  city  of  Ravenna  was  this  king's  seat  of 
government.  It  was  nearly  200  miles  north  of  Rome,  and 
was  on  or  very  near  the  shore  of  the  Adriatic  sea.  Between 
476  and  500,  Theodoric  had  defeated  Odoacer  in  several  battles 
— had  besieged  him  three  years  in  Ravenna — had  made  a  treaty 
with  him  to  rule  jointly  and  equally  together  in  Italy — had 
assassinated  him  at  a  feast,  and  had  become  sole  king  of  Italy. 


310  ITALY. 

This  outline  shows,  that  Theodoric  may  have  been  a  barbari- 
an, no  less  than  Ocloacer;  but  not  more  so  than  other  persons, 
in  any  age  or  country,  who  have  to  shed  blood  to  acquire,  or  to 
keep  crowns  Theodoric  was  derived  from  the  Gothic  race,  and 
clained  lineal  descent  from  Amala,  whose  memory  was  cher- 
ished and  venerated  for  military  exploits,  in  remote  generations. 
He  was  a  genuine  Goth;  but  Italy  had  not  seen  for  centuries 
before,  nor  did  Italy  see  for  centuries  after  his  time,  any  thirty 
years  of  equal  prosperity  and  happiness,  as  in  the  first  thirty  of 
his  reign.  He  was  born  near  what  is  now  the  city  of  Vienna; 
was  sent  to  Constantinople  in  his  early  youth  as  a  hostage. 
He  learned  there  manly  and  martial  habits,  but  declined  all 
study  of  letters,  and  could  not  write  nor  read.  Having  become 
king  of  his  nation,  and  being  a  very  expensive  friend  and  ally 
of  the  emperor,  at  Constantinople,  his  offer  to  recover  Italy 
from  Odoacer,  was  gladly  accepted.  He  embodied  a  powerful 
force,  which  was  followed,  as  was  the  manner  of  the  Goths,  by 
wives,  children,  flocks,  and  herds.  What  was  done  in  the  nu- 
merous battles  which  produced  the  result  of  making  Theodoric 
master  of  Italy,  need  not  to  be  told.  It  is  rare  to  find  any  thing 
in  a  battle  itself,  which  deserves  minute  narration.  It  is 
slaughter  and  conquest  in  all  cases,  and  for  any  general  or  phi- 
losophical purpose,  consequences  only  are  to  be  regarded. 

At  this  time  there  were  two,  and  only  two  sorts  of  Christians 
in  the  world — the  Arians,  and  those  who  were  of  the  Nicene 
faith,  as  established  by  a  council  at  Nice,  in  the  year  325.  The 
latter  had  acquired  the  name  of  Catholics,  and  have  ever  since 
been  so  known.  Theodoric  was  an  Arian,  but  he  did  not  dis- 
turb the  Catholics,  nor  did  he  make  any  distinction  between 
the  two  classes,  until  near  the  close  of  his  reign,  which  lasted 
37  years  from  his  first  coming  to  Italy,  and  33  from  his  exclu- 
sive possession  of  the  kingdom.  He  kept  his  Goths  in  arms, 
and  in  habitual  discipline.  He  had  always  an  army  of  200,- 
000  men  distributed  over  Italy.  The  conquered,  in  Italy,  he 
encouraged  to  cultivate  the  soil,  and  to  employ  themselves  in 
useful  arts.  He  restrained  his  Goths  from  rapine  and  violence. 
Property  was  protected,  and  all  personal  rights  were  enjoyed. 
Among  other  rights,  those  of  religious  worship,  with  a  liberal- 
ity which  is  almost  peculiar  to  the  reign  of  Theodoric.  Peace 
and  plenty  prevailed  in  all  his  realm,  at  no  time  surpassed,  if 
ever  equalled.  Although  he  had  no  literature  himself,  and  af- 
fixed his  name  by  means  of  a  golden  stamp,  on  which  his 
name  was  engraved,  (between  the  letters  of  which  he  made 
marks  with  a  pen,)  yet  he  favored  learning,  and  patronized, 


ITALY.  311 

learned  men.  Two  persons  deserve  special  notice  at  this  time, 
Boethius  and  Symachus;  and  that  so  much  is  known  of  these 
two,  and  of  Theodoric  himself,  history  is  indebted  to  Cassiodo- 
rus,  who  was  the  king's  confidential  secretary,  and  who  wrote 
twelve  books  on  him,  and  his  government.*  It  is  said  that 
Cassiodorus  had  influence  enough  with  Theodoric  to  induce 
him  to  protect  and  preserve  the  monuments  of  art  and  science, 
which  yet  existed  in  Rome.  At  this  time  it  was  fairly  question- 
able, whether  the  twelve  magnificent  aqueducts  which  supplied 
Rome  with  pure  water,  or  the  subterranean  sewers,  which  had 
existed  more  than  a  thousand  years,  to  purify  the  city,  best  de- 
served the  admiration  of  the  spectator. 

The  deep  and  inexcusable  reproach  of  Theodoric,  was  his 
ungrateful  and  cruel  treatment  of  Boethius  and  Symachus. 
The  former  was  a  noble  Roman,  who  had  spent  eighteen  years 
in  the  Grecian  school  of  Philosophy,  at  Athens,  which  yet  pre- 
served the  warmth  of  former  intellectual  light.  When  he 
came  back,  he  was  made  a  senator,  and  soon  invited  to  take  the 
place  of  master  of  the  offices  at  Ravenna.  This  was  the  high- 
est civil  rank,  and  implied  the  highest  confidence  of  the  king. 
His  virtues  and  his  abilities  were  his  best  title  to  this  rank.  He 
was  called  "the  oracle  of  his  sovereign,  and  the  idol  of  the 
people."  Unhappily  for  his  own  fame,  and  more  so  for  Boe- 
thius, Theodoric  lived  too  long.  At  about  the  age  of  70,  he  be- 
came jealous  and  irritable.  Such  men  as  Boethius  have  ever 
the  most  secret  and  unrelenting  foes.  It  was  whispered  to 
Theodoric,  that  this  excellent  man  had  engaged  in  a  treason- 
able correspondence  with  the  emperor  at  Constantinople.  He 
was  imprisoned  in  the  tower  of  Pavia.  Here,  bound  in  fetters, 
and  momently  expecting  a  violent  death,  he  composed  the  work 
entitled  "  The  Consolations  of  Philosophy,"  which  Gibbon 
distinguishes  as  "a  golden  volume,  not  unworthy  the  leisure  of 
Platoor  Tully."  This  is  the  work  which  the  Great  Alfred 
translated,  as  mentioned  in  his  life.  The  manner  in  which  Bo- 
ethius was  put  to  death,  is  too  shocking  to  be  narrated.  If 
Theodoric  not  only  ordered  death,  but  the  manner  of  it,  he 
well  deserved  the  remorse,  and  the  death,  which  soon  overtook 
him.  Symachus  was  the  father  of  Boethius'  wife,  and  held  a 
high  rank,   of  like  order   with  that   of  his  son-in-law.     He 

*  This  work  is  known  only  from  an  epitome  of  it  in  the  work  of  Jor- 
nandes,  (or  Jordanes,)  on  the  Goths.  The  work  of  this  person  is  known 
only  from  the  compilations  of  Muratori,  a  learned  Italian,  who  died  in 
1750,  leaving  27  folio  volumes  on  Italian  affairs,  from  500  to  1500.  Mu- 
ratori is  often  quoted  by  the  most  respectable  historians. 


312  ITALY. 

could  not  suppress  his  sorrow  at  his  loss,  nor  his  indignation  at 
the  manner  of  it.  This  offence  cost  him  his  life,  at  such  ac- 
cumulation of  years  that  time  would  soon  have  saved  the  stroke 
of  the  executioner.  Soon  after  these  events,  so  irreconcilable 
with  the  general  character  of  Theodoric,  his  remorse  disturb- 
ed his  reason.  Seating  himself  at  dinner,  he  imagined  that  he 
saw  in  the  head  of  a  fish  the  countenance  of  Symachus,  the 
eyes  glaring  with  fury,  and  the  teeth  moving  to  devour  him. 
He  rose  with  intolerable  anguish,  retired  to  his  bed,  and  passed 
the  three  or  four  days  that  remained  to  him  in  lamenting  his 
cruelties  to  these  illustrious  men.  There  is  one  other  reproach 
to  the  memory  of  Theodoric.  He  retaliated  t'he  intolerance  of 
the  emperor  at  Constantinople,  towards  the  Arians,  on  the 
Catholics  of  Italy.  The  way  to  the  worst  exercise  of  the 
worst  of  passions,  is  ever  opened  by  vindictive  persecution  in 
matters  of  faith.  Thus  the  peace  of  Italy  was  put  to  flight; 
the  Goths  became  Goths  again  ;  and  from  that  age  to  the  pres- 
ent, Italy  has  seen  no  such  happy  days  as  this  king,  and  his 
wise  and  virtuous  ministers,  were  able  to  bestow. 

A  grandson  of  Theodoric,  at  the  age  of  ten,  succeeded  him. 
The  government  was  conducted  under  the  regency  of  his  moth- 
er, Amalashanta,  who  erected  a  suitable  monument  to  Theodo- 
ric, on  an  eminence  near  Ravenna.  It  was  a  circular  temple 
of  marble  and  granite.  As  might  be  expected  from  the  state 
of  things  at  Theodoric's  death,  the  minority  of  a  Gothic  king, 
and  the  government  of  a  female,  wars,  intrigues,  crimes,  and 
miseries,  followed.  This  was  a  favorable  opportunity  for  the 
emperor  of  the  eastern  empire  to  attempt  the  recovery  of 
Italy.  In  a  short  time,  the  famous  Belisarius,  general  of  Jus- 
tinian, appeared  in  great  force  in  Italy,  after  having  destroyed 
the  vandal  empire  in  Africa.  This  is  the  same  Belisarius  of 
whom  a  song  is  still  sung  called  date  obulum  Belisario  which 
supposes  a  state  of  adversity  to  this  illustrious  man,  which  is 
destitute  of  historical  truth.  After  him,  came  the  Eunuch 
Narses,  who  was  a  more  successful  military  chief  than  Belisa- 
rius was,  though  less  so  than  he  would  have  been,  if  he  had 
not  been  sacrificed  to  gratify  the  malice  of  undeserved  foes  at 
Constantinople.  Narses  effected  the  conquest  of  nearly  all 
that  part  of  Italy  (which  had  not  been  conquered  by  Belisari- 
us) called  the  boot  or  peninsula ;  that  is,  from  the  river  Po, 
southwardly.  Thus,  part  of  Italy  was  governed  under  the 
authority  of  the  eastern  emperors  for  nearly  200  years,  (552  to 
752,)  by  successive  officers,  called  by  the  name  of  exarch,  a 
Greek  word,  used  in  the  Greek  empire  to  signify  the 


LOMBARDY.  313 

of  provincial  governor.  Tuscany,  Naples,  and  also  Sicily, 
will  be  mentioned  hereafter,  separately  from  this  exarchate  gov- 
ernment. The  river  Po  runs  from  the  west  to  the  east,  nearly 
through  the  middle,  and  whole  extent  of  north  Italy.  On  the 
north  side  of  the  Po,  and  thence  to  the  Alps,  was  the  kingdom 
of  Lombardy,  which  is  one  of  the  important  elements  of  his- 
tory, taken  in  connexion  with  the  events  of  France  and  Ger- 
many. The  extinction  of  Gothic  power  in  Italy  was  effected 
by  the  conquest  of  Narses,  in  the  middle'of  the  sixth  century. 
A  short  notice  is  required  of  the  rise  and  fortunes  of  Lom- 
bardy. We  are  then  to  pass  rapidly  over  the  miseries  and 
woes  of  southern  Italy,  till  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century. 
If  we  except  the  admiration  which  the  world  bestows  on  per- 
sonal qualities  in  war,  there  is  nothing  to  relieve  the  monoto- 
nous current  of  crime  and  suffering. 

Whether  the  Lombards  were  so  called  from  the  length  of 
their  beards,  (Longo-bards,)  or  from  the  length  of  their  spears, 
or  the  shape  of  the  strips  of  land  which  they  are  said  to  have 
occupied,  anciently,  on  both  sides  the  Elbe,  is  alike  uncertain 
and  unimportant;  whether  they  were  Goths  or  Scandanavians, 
originally,  is  equally  so.  They  fought  their  way  from  north 
to  south,  like  other  barbarous  tribes,  and  appeared  on  the  banks 
of  the  Danube  about  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century.  Here 
their  forces  were  augmented  by  taking  20,000  Saxons  with 
them,  and,  pouring  down  from  the  Alps,  became  masters  of  all 
northern  Italy,  soon  after  the  time  when  Narses  had  conquered 
next  below  to  the  south.  The  leader  of  the  Lombards  was 
Alboin,  equally  renowned  for  savage  vices  and  virtues.  He 
had  conquered  the  king  of  the  Gepida,  a  barbarous  people 
north  of  the  Danube,  had  married  his  daughter,  and  had 
made  a  drinking-cup  of  his  skull.  After  conquering  northern 
Italy,  at  some  carousal,  after  the  manner  of  his  people,  and 
times,  he  filled  this  drinking-cup  and  sent  it  to  his  wife,  Rosa- 
mond, with  orders  to  drain  its  contents,  and  rejoice  with  the 
master  of  Italy.  Rosamond,  for  this,  or  some  more  efficient 
reason,  as  would  seem  from  the  infamy  of  her  character,  caused 
Alboin  to  be  assassinated.  She  had  a  favorite  ready  to  place 
on  the  throne ;  but,  this  project  failing,  she  fled  with  him,  and 
her  treasures,  to  Constantinople.  At  this  city  she  attracted  the 
notice  of  Longinus,  who  was  high  in  office,  and  who  was  dis- 
posed to  make  her  his  wife.  The  obstacle  was  the  existence  of 
her  lover,  Helmichis,  who  was  yet  with  her.  This  obstacle 
she  intended  to  remove  by  poison.  She  attended  this  person  to 
27 


314  LOMBARDY. 

the  bath,  and  when  he  came  out  she  offered  him  a  goblet,  of 
which  he  drank ;  but,  immediately  suspecting  her,  he  pre- 
sented his  sword  to  her  breast,  and  compelled  her  to  drink  the 
remainder.  Here,  at  the  same  time,  and  from  the  same  poi- 
soned liquid,  this  treacherous  couple,  by  an  unlooked-for  jus- 
tice, ended  their  lives  in  mutual  reproaches,  and  with  no  other 
consolation  than  each  other's  groans.  This  is  rather  a  promi- 
nent illustration  of  the  morals  of  these  times ;  but  many  such 
occurrences  might  be  stated. 

Clepho  was  chosen  king  in  573,  but  was  murdered  in  about 
eighteen  months,  and  the  usual  scenes  of  turbulence  and  tyran- 
ny, under  ducal  chiefs,  mark  the  next  years  of  the  Lombards. 
The  kingdom  became  more  tranquil  under  Antharis,  the  son 
of  Clepho,  who  successfully  resisted  a  French  invasion  ;  and, 
before  the  end  of  the  century,  he  had  extended  his  conquests 
to  the  extreme  south  of  Italy.  Several  dukedoms  arose,  and, 
among  others,  those  of  Spoleto  and  Beneventum  ;  from  the 
latter  of  which  a  celebrated  statesman,  of  the  present  day,  has 
the  title  of  Prince  of  Benevento.*  The  divisions  and  subdi- 
visions of  Italy  were  numerous  in  the  two  hundred  years 
which  followed  the  first  conquest  by  Alboin.  It  was  the 
policy  of  the  Lombards,  as  of  most  of  the  barbarian  conquer- 
ors, to  parcel  out  their  territory  in  more  or  less  extensive 
divisions.  Over  these,  chiefs  were  placed,  who  exercised  a 
mixed  authority,  civil  and  military,  having  subordinate  officers 
under  them.  From  these  territorial  divisions  arose  the  titles 
of  nobility.  The  dukedoms  of  Italy  became  sovereignties 
under  their  dukes,  and  as  such  occupy  an  important  space  in 
Italian  history,  f  The  Lombards  were  slow  in  changing  their 
rude  habits  for  those  which  are  acquired  by  intellectual  and 
moral  improvement,  founded  in  letters  and  chastening  religion. 
A  griculture  was  conducted  by  the  conquered  Italians :  com- 
merce had  no  attractions.  War,  the  chace,  and  festivity,  occu- 
pied their  hours  when  they  were  not  engaged  in  councils  and 
contentions.  Among  their  amusements,  new  to  Italians,  was 
the  training  of  the  hawk  or  falcon.  This  bird  was  capable  of 
receiving  a  tuition  which  enabled  it  to  know  the  voice  and  to 
obey  the  commands  of  its  master,  while  moving  in  the  air,  as 

*  Conferred  by  Napoleon,  when  master  of  Italy,  on  Talleyrand. 

t  It  is  not  intended  to  go  minutely  into  their  history ;  curiosity,  on 
this  point,  may  be  fully  gratified  by  the  Histoire  des  republiques  Italien- 
nes  ttu  moyen  age,  par  J.  C.  L.  Sismonde  de  Sismondi.    Paris,  1825. 


ITALIAN    LANGUAGE.  315 

far  as  the  voice  could  reach.  This  is  an  amusement  still 
known  and  resorted  to  in  England.  But  the  noble  Lombard 
regarded  his  falconry  and  the  use  of  his  sword  as  equally- 
valuable  accomplishments.  Gibbon  intimates  that  falconry  (or 
the  training  of  the  hawk  to  conquer  in  the  air,  as  dogs  are 
trained  to  do  on  the  ground)  is  of  Norwegian  origin. 

We  may  pause  a  moment  here,  to  consider  the  origin  of  the 
Italian  language.  The  Latin  had  attained  to  great  perfection, 
before  the  close  of  the  Roman  empire,  throughout  Italy.  It 
was  enriched  by  words  borrowed  from  the  literature  of  Greece. 
Then  came  the  barbarian  nations,  who  brought  and  spoke 
their  own  languages,  and  they  necessarily  intermingled  with 
all  those  who  spoke  the  Latin. 

What  the  Latin  was  in  the  days  of  Cicero,  and  long  before 
and  after  the  Christian  era  began,  is  well  known.  What  lan- 
guages were  spoken  in  Italy  before  this  Roman  tongue  was 
reduced  to  order,  and  made  to  be  the  dignified  and  elegant 
dress  of  thought,  is  only  to  be  conjectured.  The  whole  coun- 
try was  held  by  small  and  independent  tribes.  It  is  supposed 
that  they  were  kindred  tribes  with  the  first  inhabitants  of 
Greece,  and  that  the  languages  of  all  these  tribes  may  have 
had  a  common  origin.  Doubtless,  the  Latin  gradually  arose 
from  amalgamations,  and  kept  pace  with  the  progress  of  refine- 
ment. When  it  became  that  language  which  accomplished 
scholars  delight  to  recur  to,  for  elegant  illustration,  it  was 
doomed  to  be  lost  in  the  barbarous  dialects  which  were  spoken 
in  Italy. 

Centuries  of  barbarism  followed,  in  which  the  Latin  lan- 
guage was  used  only  in  the  official  transactions  of  the  popes 
and  other  ecclesiastics,  and  in  all  important  affairs  of  civil 
government.  The  Latin  ceased  to  be  spoken,  as  a  distinct 
language,  about  the  year  580. 

The  spoken  language  of  Italy,  from  about  580  to  1200, 
was  made  up  of  Latin  and  of  Greek,  and  of  various  dialects 
of  the  Teutonic  or  Goth,  called  Tudesque,  from  the  Gothic 
god,  Tuet.  Sismondi  says,  that  he  has  not  been  able  to  dis- 
cover that  this  spoken  language  was  ever  a  written  one  ;  and 
what  it  was  is  never  to  be  known.  The  Latin,  as  written, 
partook  of  the  common  debasement  of  these  ages.  It  has  been 
said  that  the  Latin  was  never  the  language  of  the  common 
people  of  Italy,  and  that  the  Italian  was  not  spoken  by  them 
after  Latin  ceased  to  be  spoken,  which  implies  that  there  was 
some  vulgar  tongue  in  use,  distinct  from  both  ;  if  so,  it  is  not 
to  be  traced.     When  the  barbarous  compound,  which  was  in. 


316  LOMBARDY. 

use  up  to  the  year  1200,  came  to  be  subjected  to  the  rules  of 
construction,  it  must  have  made  a  rapid  progress  in  refinement. 
About  the  year  1300,  the  Italian,  as  now  known,  was  written 
by  Dante,  and  it  is  not  supposed  to  have  been  made  better 
since  that  time.  Before  the  Italian  had  been  established  as 
the  language  of  science  and  literature,  a  passion  arose  for  the 
study  of  ancient  literature,  especially  the  Latin  writers,  and 
their  own  tongue  was  negleected  by  the  Italian  scholars.  The 
Latin  is  considered  to  be  the  original  foundation  of  the  Italian, 
Spanish,  and  Portuguese ;  and,  though  these  are  very  different 
languages,  differences  are  easily  accounted  for  by  lapse  of 
time,  and  the  effects  produced  by  use  on  what  may  be  called  a 
growing  language. 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

LOMBARDY. 

Lombard  Kingdom — Conquest  by  Pepin,  of  France — Dominion  of  Char- 
lemagne, and  of  his  Successors — Normans  in  Italy. 

Within  a  century  after  the  conquest  by  the  Lombards, 
this  people'  had  emerged  from  their  barbarism  sufficiently  to 
form  a  code  of  laws.  They  had  deliberative  councils  and 
courts  of  justice.  It  was  the  practice  with  them  as  with  all  the 
nations  of  Teutonic  origin,  to  compensate  crimes,  murder  not 
excepted,  by  the  payment  of  fines,  in  money.  There  was  an 
established  rate,  in  valuing  life,  for  all  classes.  Trial  by  com- 
bat was  in  use  among  them.  It  is  believed  to  be  peculiar  to 
the  Lombards,  that  they  did  not  permit  the  priesthood  to  take 

f>art  in  political  affairs.  The  church  of  Rome  had  not  estab- 
ished  its  power  among  them.  The  character  of  the  Lombards 
bears  a  comparison  very  favorably  to  them,  with  most  other 
barbarous  nations  who  had  possessed  themselves  of  Europe. 
But  they  were  destined  to  a  short  duration.  About  752,  they 
attempted  the  conquest  of  Rome.  The  pope  sought  assistance 
from  the  sovereigns  beyond  the  Alps,  who  were  devoted  to  the 
church.  Pepin  came  from  France  with  a  sufficient  force  to 
repel  the  Lombards,  and  force  them  to  a  humiliating  peace. 
New  assaults  on  Rome  having  occurred,  Charlemagne  ap- 
peared in  774,  when  Desiderius  was  the  Lombard  king,  and 


ITALY.  317 

this  person  having  been  subdued  and  taken  prisoner,  Charle- 
magne became  the  king  of  Italy  as  well  as  emperor  of  the 
Franks,  or  of  the  west ;  or,  in  other  words,  added  that  king- 
dom to  his  own,  and  took  the  title  to  himself. 

From  the  death  of  Charlemagne,  in  814,  to  the  middle  of 
the  eleventh  century,  or  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  is 
the  period  of  the  greatest  debasement  of  Italy.  Historical 
accounts  of  this  time  are  few,  and  not  much  to  be  relied  on. 
The  impression  taken  from  the  perusal  of  the  most  respected 
historians  who  have  treated  of  these  times,  is,  that  the  very 
worst  passions  which  can  direct  human  actions,  were  in  con- 
tinual operation.  Religion,  intended  to  restrain  and  chasten 
the  common  propensities  of  human  nature,  served  only,  in  this 
lapse  of  time,  to  minister  to  folly,  vice,  and  crime.  If  we 
assume  the  entire  abolition  of  all  laws,  human  and  divine,  and 
the  subjection  of  society  to  fraud,  violence,  and  rapine,  in  a 
period  of  extreme  ignorance,  we  can  deduce  the  condition  of 
Italy  in  these  truly  dark  ages.  The  elements  are,  so  far  as 
names  and  agents  are  known,  these  : — The  popes  still  held  the 
city  of  Rome  and  adjacent  country,  with  something  of  tempo- 
ral as  well  as  ecclesiastical  authority.  While  the  Carlovin- 
gians  were  sinking  into  insignificance,  from  814  to  888,  the 
popes  were  often  assailed  by  the  Lombards  and  the  neighbor- 
ing dukes.  The  Greek  emperors  sometimes  attempted  to 
resume  dominion  in  Italy.  The  Saracens  had  possessed  them- 
selves of  Africa,  Sicily,  Spain,  and  frequently  invaded  Italy. 
Meanwhile,  the  chiefs  of  dukedoms,  into  which  south  Italy 
was  divided,  were  contending  with  each  other.  To  these 
causes  of  affliction  are  to  be  added  the  civil  wars  which  arose 
in  the  dukedoms.  The  sword,  pestilence,  and  famine,  were  in 
close  alliance.  The  most  cruel  punishments  were  inflicted  on 
captives ;  that  one  which  seemed  to  be  most  agreeable  to  the 
taste  of  the  age,  was  to  mutilate  the  person.  Some  of  the 
statements,  in  these  respects,  are  too  shocking  to  be  narrated. 

When  the  Carlovingians  disappeared,  in  Charles  the  Fat, 
in  888,  and  Henry  the  Fowler,  his  successor  by  election,  had 
overawed  the  barbarians  on  his  northern  and  eastern  frontier, 
he  turned  his  attention  to  Italy,  and  desired  to  resume  domin- 
ion there.  The  first  Otho  who  followed  him,  established  this 
dominion ;  the  second  of  that  name  maintained  it.  These 
emperors  dealt  with  the  popes  as  they  pleased.  They  placed 
on  the  papal  throne  whomsoever  they  thought  proper,  and  dis- 
placed the  tenants  of  it  as  suited  their  caprice.  This  German 
authority  over  the  successors  of  St.  Peter  was  preserved,  with 
27* 


318  NORMANS    IN    ITALY. 

little  interruption,  until  the  time  of  the  famous  Gregory  VII., 
of  whom  it  will  be  necessary  hereafter  to  give  an  account. 
But  these  German  emperors,  in  thus  visiting  Italy  with  armies, 
came  in  contact  with  the  Saracens,  the  dukes,  and  the  forces 
of  the  Greek  emperors,  who  held  some  territories  in  south- 
eastern Italy.  Thus  were  four  distinct  parties  contending  for 
Italy:  and  if  we  include  the  spiritual  and  temporal  claims  of 
the  popes,  there  were  five.  At  this  time,  (about  the  year  1016,) 
the  Normans  appeared  in  Italy,  and  gave  a  new  character  to 
the  scenes  which  were  passing  there. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  912,  Rollo,  from  Norway, 
established  himself  in  that  part  of  France  called  Normandy. 
He  was  surnamed  the  Walker,  because  he  was  so  large  and 
heavy,  that  no  horse  could  carry  him.  His  descendants  and 
followers  readily  intermingled  with  the  Franks,  and  became 
zealous,  but  barbarous  Christians.  They  cherished  the  orig- 
inal spirit  of  heroic  adventure,  and,  under  their  Christian  im- 
pulses, this  spirit  found  gratification  in  pilgrimages  to  the 
holy  land.  United  with  this  enthusiasm,  was  the  hope  of 
conquest,  or  at  least  of  plunder,  by  their  military  force.  All 
of  these  adventurers  appear  to  have  been  thoroughly  trained 
to  arms.  On  the  bay  of  Salerno,  about  thirty  miles  south-east 
of  Naples,  was  the  town  of  Amalphi,  or  Amalfi,  which  has 
been  made  memorable  from  three  causes.  Here,  it  is  said  that 
the  mariner's  compass  was  invented  ;  here  was  found  the  long 
lost  code  of  civil  law,  compiled  by  the  orders  of  Justinian,  and 
here  was  compiled  the  first  maritime  code,  or  system  of  laws 
for  the  regulation  of  commerce.  (1  vol.  of  Sismondi,  p.  242.) 
Hallam,  (History  of  Middle  Ages,  2  vol.  p.  276,  Amer.  ed.) 
says,  The  mariner's  compass  is  clearly  alluded  to  by  a  French 
poet,  about  1200,  which  is  more  than  a  century  earlier  than 
the  supposed  discovery  at  Amalfi.  He  mentions  two  others 
who  appear  to  have  known  of  the  magnet  at  an  earlier  period. 
Hallam  also  questions  the  discovery  of  the  Pandects,  (or  part 
of  the  Roman,  or  civil  law,)  at  Amalfi  in  1135.  About  the 
year  1025,  forty  of  these  Norman  adventurers,  in  their  way 
from  the  holy  land,  arrived  at  Amalfi.  They  were  ready  for 
any  enterprise  which  promised  glory  or  wealth,  or  even  bread. 
They  were  invited  to  engage  in  the  wars  then  going  on  in 
Italy,  and  became  very  formidable  assistants.  Their  success 
attracted  other  adventurers  from  Normandy.  Their  numbers 
so  increased,  that  they  were  enabled  to  become  masters  of  a 
large  portion  of  the  south  of  Italy,  including  Naples  and  its 
territories ;  and,  at  length,  to  assume  a  royal  dignity.     In  the 


NORMANS    IN    ITALY.  319 

year  1053,  the  pope,  Leo  IX.,  attempted  to  subdue  them,  and 
so  far  forgot  his  pacific  character,  as  to  accompany  his  forces. 
The  Normans  vanquished'  him,  and  then  fell  at  his  feet  to 
supplicate  forgiveness  of  their  sin  in  warring  with  his  holiness. 
The  result  of  this  matter  was,  that  the  Normans  were  content- 
ed to  accept,  and  the  pope  glad  to  bestow,  the  right  of  sove- 
reignty over  Naples  and  its  territories;  and  they  were  thus 
held,  through  successive  centuries,  as  a  dependency  of  the 
pope.  The  right  of  the  pope  to  bestow  this  territory,  was  as 
well  founded  as  the  assumption  of  the  like  potentates,  in  after 
ages,  to  bestow  sovereignty  over  other  territories,  savage,  or 
civilized.  This  may  be  the  first  instance  of  the  exercise  of 
such  power. 

Among  those  Normans  who  distinguished  themselves  in 
Italy,  one  family  attained  to  great  power ;  and  from  this  family 
came  a  race  of  kings,  which  was  associated  by  intermarriages, 
with  most  of  the  royal  families  of  Europe.  Tancred  of  Haute- 
ville,  (a  castle  in  lower  Normandy,  in  France,)  had  twelve 
sons,  ten  of  whom  went  to  Italy.  Robert,  surnamed  Guiscard, 
(adroit  or  cunning,)  was  the  first  among  the  seven  brothers  of 
the  second  marriage.  He  was  alike  distinguished  for  the 
grandeur  of  his  person,  his  skill  in  war,  and  his  strength  of 
mind.  The  brothers  founded  the  republic  of  Apulia,  along 
the  north-east  coast  of  lower  Italy,  of  which  Robert  was  the 
chief,  or  duke.  He  added  to  his  dominions,  under  the  sanction 
of  the  pope,  nearly  all  the  south  of  Italy,  to  the  full  extent  of 
what  has  long  been  the  kingdom  of  Naples ;  that  is,  all  southern 
Italy  up  to  the  papal  territories.  He  included  Amalfi,  which 
had  already  begun  a  commercial  course  of  dealing.  Here,  in 
Robert's  time,  towards  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century,  is 
supposed  to  have  been  the  first  school  of  that  age  which  pre- 
ceded the  revival  of  letters.  It  was,  however,  only  a  medical 
school,  founded  by  one  Constantine,  an  African  Christian,  who 
had  acquired,  by  a  residence  of  thirty-nine  years  at  Bagdad, 
the  learning  and  the  arts  of  the  Arabs.  Robert  boldly  at- 
tempted to  conquer  the  Greek  empire.  He  crossed  over  to 
Greece  with  his  heroine  wife,  and  proceeded  towards  Con- 
stantinople. The  wreck  of  his  fleet,  pestilence,  and  complicat- 
ed misfortunes,  and  not  the  skill  and  courage  of  his  opponents, 
defeated  his  purposes.  The  German  emperor,  Henry  IV., 
was  induced  by  the  Greek  emperor  to  invade  Italy;  and  thus 
Robert  was  compelled  to  return  not  only  from  a  fruitless,  but 
a  disastrous  expedition.  In  a  second  expedition  to  Greece,  he 
was  seized  by  an  epidemic,  and  died  in  July,  1085,  at  the  age 


320  NORTHERN    ITALY. 

of  seventy.  The  youngest  brother  of  the  family,  Roger,  con- 
quered Sicily  from  the  Arabs,  and  his  son  became  the  king  of 
that  island.  His  son,  of  the  same  name,  united  Sicily  with 
Calabria  and  Apulia,  (the  two  latter  being  the  extreme  south  of 
Italy,)  and  these  territories  acquired  the  name  of  the  kingdom 
of  Naples.  Afterwards,  Sicily  and  the  Neapolitan  kingdom 
acquired  the  name  of  the  two  Sicilies,  and  this  name  was  used 
in  historical  records,  for  some  centuries. 


CHAPTER  L. 

NORTHERN    ITALY. 

State  of  Northern  Italy  in  1100 — Guelfs  and  Ghibelines — Frederick  Bar- 
barossa's  Wars  with  the  Italian  Republics. 

Under  the  general  name  of  Italy,  the  country  is  to  be 
noticed  which  lies  southwardly  of  the  Alps,  and  between  the 
Tuscan,  Adriatic,  and  Mediterranean  seas.  Historical  events 
are,  — 1.  The  efforts  of  the  German  emperors  to  hold  Italy  in 
subjection.  2.  The  conflicts  between  these  emperors  and  the 
popes.  3.  The  efforts  of  the  republics  to  free  themselves  from 
the  emperors.  4.  The  efforts  of  the  popes  to  subject  all  civil 
authority  to  spiritual  tyranny.  5.  The  tumults  and  revolutions 
in  Italian  cities,  in  which  the  Guelfs  and  Ghibelines  appear. 
6.  The  wars  between  the  Italian  republics.  7.  Commerce. 
8.  Revival  of  learning.  9.  Attempts  of  France,  Germany, 
and  Spain,  to  conquer  Italy.  10.  The  loss  of  liberty,  through- 
out Italy. 

These  subjects  comprise  many  facts,  and  various  agents. 
A  selection  of  such  events  as  will  give  a  clear  and  connected 
narration,  is  intended.  A  brevity  which  makes  narration 
obscure,  and  a  particularity  of  detail  which  makes  it  tedious, 
are  alike  to  be  avoided.  Many  great  cities,  with  their  sur- 
rounding territories,  each  one  independent  of  all  others,  ought 
to  have,  respectively,  separate  histories.  But  their  fortunes 
were  so  interwoven,  and  their  action  with  and  against  each 
other  so  closely  connected,  that  historians  have  commonly 
treated  of  them  collectively.  This  was  the  more  unavoidable, 
because  the  efforts  of  the  German  emperors  to  subdue  these 
cities,  were  directed  against  several  of  them,  in  each  invasion. 


NORTHERN    ITALY. 


321 


This  is  the  course  of  Sismondi,  in  his  elaborate  history.  It  is 
admitted  that  he  has  superseded  the  laborious  compiler,  Mura- 
tori.  Taking  Sismondi  as  the  guide  in  this  labyrinth  of  facts, 
names,  and  dates,  but  comparing  him  with  other  authorities, 
and  especially  Hallam,  the  history  of  Italian  states  and  repub- 
lics will  be  treated  of,  separately,  as  far  as  may  be  practicable. 
Historians  usually  assume  that  readers  are  familiar  with 
geographical  names  and  relations.  This  is  not  always  so ; 
and  therefore  the  events  related  will  be  connected  with  the 
time  when,  and  the  place  in  which  they  occurred. 

Northern  Italy  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Alps  which 
separate  it  from  France;  on  the  north  by  the  Alps,  which 
separate  it  from  the  Alpine  country ;  on  the  east  by  the  Adri- 
atic sea ;  on  the  south  by  the  Tuscan  sea,  and  by  a  line  near 
the  44th  degree  of  north  latitude,  drawn  from  the  Tuscan  to 
the  Adriatic.  The  whole  extent  of  northern  Italy,  from  west 
to  east,  is  about  three  hundred  miles;  and  from  north  to  south, 
an  average  extent  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  The  river 
Po  has  its  sources  in  the  Alps,  which  separate  Italy  and 
France,  and  runs  eastwardly  nearly  through  the  middle  of 
Northern  Italy,  and  empties  into  the  Adriatic  in  four  principal 
streams.  In  its  course  it  receives  numerous  tributaries  from 
the  northern  Alps,  and  from  the  Appenines,  which  rise  between 
it  and  the  Tuscan  sea  on  the  south. 

The  city  of  Pavia  is  situated  in  the  great  plains  through 
which  the  Po  runs,  and  very  near  the  confluence  of  that  river 
with  the  Tecino.  It  is  nearly  midway  between  the  northern 
end  of  the  Tuscan  sea,  and  the  Alps ;  and  about  one  third  of 
the  distance  from  the  western  Alps,  (which  separate  Italy  and 
France,)  to  the  Adriatic  sea.  This  city  often  occurs  in  the 
history  of  Northern  Italy.  This  fact,  and  its  position,  make 
it  the  most  convenient  central  place  from  which  to  point  out 
the  relative  bearing  and  distance  of  the  many  cities  which 
are  to  be  mentioned.  Pavia  is  in  north  latitude,  45,  10.  east 
longitude  9.  9. 

After  Charlemagne  had  subdued  the  kingdom  of  Lombardy 
and  had  annexed  it  to  the  German  empire,  it  was  sometimes 
called  by  its  former  name,  and  sometimes  the  kingdom  of 
Italy.  From  A.  D.  900,  to  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century, 
the  events  which  occurred  in  northern  Italy  were  never  re- 
corded, or  the  records  of  them  have  been  lost.  It  is  known, 
however,  that  in  these  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  the  Italian 
cities  had  been  growing  rich  and  populous,  and  that  most  of 
them  had  been  surrounded  by  walls,  and  that  some  of  them 


322  NORTHERN    ITALY. 

had,  within  the  walls,  strong  citadels..  Compared  with  the 
extent  of  the  country,  the  number  of  cities  was  very  great,  and 
the  strong  holds  or  castles  were  more,  in  proportion,  than  in 
Germany.  These  facts  indicate  a  highly  belligerent  state  of 
society.  Sentiments  of  republican  freedom  are  supposed  to 
have  arisen,  and  to  have  been  cherished  in  these  cities,  in  these 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  A  condition  approaching  to 
independence  of  the  German  empire  existed  in  all  northern 
Italy,  when  Frederick  Barbarossa  was  elected  emperor  in 
1152.  The  claims  of  the  German  emperors  to  be  the  sove- 
reigns of  northern  Italy  had  continued,  though  the  utmost 
military  power  of  the  empire  was  incompetent  to  enforce  them. 
Frederick  Barbarossa  so  found  it  to  be,  throughout  the  whole 
of  his  reign,  (1152  to  1190,)  thirty-three  years  of  which  he 
devoted  to  a  costly,  desolating,  and  unsuccessful  warfare  to 
obtain  the  mastery.  He  crossed  the  Alps  no  less  than  six 
times,  with  numerous  armies.  This  is  one  of  the  most  strik- 
ing examples,  in  the  thousands  recorded,  of  the  misery  which 
one  man  may  inflict  upon  millions.  Yet  Frederick  was 
neither  a  bad  man,  nor  a  tyrannical  monarch,  for  the  age  in 
which  he  lived. 

There  were  different  routes  from  Germany  into  Italy  over 
the  Alps.  Frederick  passed  through  most  of  them  ;  sometimes 
coming  from  Bavaria  through  the  Tyrol,  and  the  bishopric  of 
Trent,  and  entering  at  the  north-east  part  of  Italy.  Sometimes 
he  came  from  the  kingdom  of  Burgundy,  then  part  of  the 
German  dominions,  and  now  southern  France.-  His  route,  in 
this  case,  was  through  Savoy,  over  Mont  Cenis,  and  through 
Piedmont.  His  first  descent  on  Italy  was  through  the  Tyrol, 
from  Bavaria,  in  1154.  He  had  then  two  objects,  to  chastise 
his  rebellious  subjects,  and  to  be  crowned  at  Pavia,  as  king  of 
Italy,  and  at  Rome,  as  emperor. 

At  this  time,  Milan  had  become  the  richest,  the  most  popu- 
lous, and  the  most  strongly  fortified  of  the  cities.  It  is  situated 
in  the  plain,  between  two  tributaries  to  the  Po,  the  Tecino  and 
the  Adda,  and  about  seventeen  miles  nearly  north  from  Pavia. 
This  city  had  taken  the  lead  in  the  opposition  to  the  empire, 
and  had  formed  an  alliance  with  several  other  cities;  and  was, 
consequently,  in  a  state  of  hostility  to  those  cities  which  from 
choice,  fear,  or  jealousy  of  Milan,  still  adhered  to  the  empire. 
The  inhabitants  of  northern  Italy,  at  this  time,  may  be  com- 
prised in  these  classes:  1.  The  nobles,  of  various  grades  and 
wealth ;  most  of  whom  resided  in  castles  on  their  estates,  and 
were  divided  into  the  two  factions  of  Guelfs  and  Ghibelines. 


NORTHERN    ITALY.  323 

2.  The  agriculturalists,  some  of  whom  had  estates  of  their 
own ;  but  most  of  them  were  vassals  of  the  nobles,  or  tenants 
under  them,  with  a  relaxation  of  strict  feudal  rights.  3.  The 
cities  and  their  inhabitants,  who  were  divisible  into  many 
classes,  the  most  numerous  of  which  were  the  merchants  and 
mechanics,  both  of  them  free,  and  inclined  to  preserve  their 
freedom.  The  whole  population  of  the  cities  and  villages 
were  trained  to  arms,  and  were  formed  into  militia.  Among 
the  nobility,  the  profession  of  arms  was  the  only  one.  There 
were  many  villages  on  the  great  plain,  which  depended  on 
some  one  of  the  cities  for  protection. 

The  character  of  this  age  may  be  illustrated  by  noticing 
two  subjects :  1.  The  manner  of  -conducting  war.  2.  The 
relation  of  the  two  factions  (Guelfs  and  Ghibelines)  to  each 
other. 

The  inhabitants  of  cities  being  formed  into  bodies  of  militia, 
in  every  city  there  was  a  heavy  car,  drawn  by  oxen,  which 
was  called  the  carroccio.  It  was  used  to  bear  the  flags  and 
armorial  insignia  of  the  city.  A  high  pole  rose  in  the  middle 
of  the  car,  bearing  the  colors,  and,  before  it,  the  figure  of  the 
Saviour,  with  extended  arms,  as  though  bestowing  a  benedic- 
tion. There  was  an  altar  in  front  of  the  car,  at  which  the 
priest  daily  performed  religious  ceremonies  ;  and,  in  the  rear 
of  the  car  were  seated  the  trumpeters,  whose  employment  it 
was  to  sound  the  charge  or  retreat.  The  carroccio  was 
sacred,  was  the  rallying  point  in  battle,  and  was,  at  all  events, 
to  be  defended  and  preserved. 

The  origin  of  the  Guelfs  and  Ghibelines  has  been  mention- 
ed in  another  place.  They  were  first  heard  of  about  the  year 
1140,  at  the  battle  of  Winsberg,  in  Swabia,  in  which  the  em- 
peror Conrad  III.  and  his  vassal,  Henry  the  Lion,  were  the 
opponents.  Henry's  family  name  was  Guelf,  and  his  parti- 
sans distinguished  themselves  by  his  name.  Conrad  was  of 
the  HohenstaufTen  family,  and  that  family  arose  in  the  town  of 
Ghiblingen,  in  Wirtemburg.  His  partisans  called  themselves 
Ghibelines.  Hence,  as  Henry  was  regarded  as  a  rebel,  Guelf 
came  to  be  (among  Ghibelines)  a  general  name  for  the  rebel- 
lious. In  the  long-continued  conflicts  between  the  emperors 
and  the  popes,  the  Ghibelines  were  commonly  found  on  the 
side  of  the  emperors,  and  the  Guelfs  on  the  side  of  the  popes. 
Afterwards,  in  the  wars  and  contentions  wrhich  arose  among 
the  people  of  the  Italian  republics,  these  party  names  were 
always  in  use,  even  to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  has 
been  said  that  the  Guelfs  were  those  who  maintained  the  prin- 


324  NORTHERN    ITALY. 

ciples  of  liberty ;  the  Ghibeiines  those  who  supported  arbi- 
trary power.  It  is  much  more  probable,  and  much  more 
consistent  with  the  well-known  effects  of  party  spirit,  to  sup- 
pose, that  these  names  were  convenient,  if  not  necessary  dis- 
tinctions, in  the  long-continued  conflicts  among  the  Italians,  in 
which  there  was  no  other  principle  than  a  strife  for  mastery. 
Both  parties  were  alike  ambitious,  rapacious,  cruel,  and  tyran- 
nical. Both  names  were  applied  to  noble  families,  who  held 
castles  and  rich  domains,  and  who  had  numerous  followers, 
sustaining  their  chiefs  with  force  and  bloodshed.  It  is  also 
true  of  these  parties,  as  of  most  others,  that  they  sometimes 
changed  sides  as  to  principles,  (if  any  they  had  but  the  im- 
pulse of  personal  enmity  and  vengeance,)  and  that  Guelfs 
changed  to  C4hibelines,  and  Ghibeiines  to  Guelfs.  It  is  not 
reasonable  to  assume,  that,  in  the  convulsions,  tumults,  and 
bloody  civil  wars  which  continued  through  three  centuries, 
and  which  divided  the  cities  and  people  of  Italy,  there  was  a 
dominant  principle  always  to  be  known  by  a  mere  party  name. 
The  Guelfs  were  sometimes  in  alliance  with  monarchs  and 
with  popes  who  were  very  far  from  being  the  friends  of  liberty ; 
but  it  is  also  true  that  they  were  frequently  on  the  popular 
side,  and  very  certain,  that  when  they  were  the  ruling  party, 
they  were  as  oppressive  and  tyrannical  as  their  adversaries. 
Some  of  the  cities  were  distinguished  by  one  of  these  names, 
and  some  of  them  by  the  other.  But  when  northern  Italy 
had  freed  itself  from  the  subjection  to  the  empire,  and  its  mem- 
bers engaged  in  contentions  among  themselves,  and  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  same  city  were  engaged  in  the  most  vindictive 
warfare  with  each  other,  these  names  were  still  used  by  the 
hostile  parties. 

Frederick's  first  visit  to  Italy  was  that  of  a  sovereign  exas- 
perated by  the  conduct  of  rebellious  subjects.  His  route, 
through  northern  Italy  to  Pavia,  and  thence  to  Rome,  (in  both 
of  which  places  he  was  crowned,)  was  marked  by  violence, 
conflagration,  and  cruelties.  He  was  limited  in  such  exercise 
of  power  only  by  his  ability,  which  the  oppressed  Italians 
were  enabled  so  far  to  control,  as  to  force  him  to  retire  over 
the  Alps.  The  people  of  Milan  were  his  most  efficient  oppo- 
nents; and,  after  his  retirement,  they  avenged  themselves  on 
the  cities  which  had  adhered  to  him,  while  they  rebuilt  the 
places  which  he  had  destroyed.  Pavia,  seventeen  miles  south 
of  Milan ;  Cremona,  about  thirty-eight  miles  east  of  Pavia ; 
and  Novara,  about  twenty-five  miles  north-west  of  Pavia,  were 
made  to  feel  the  displeasure  of  Milan  j  while  Tortona,  twenty 


NORTHERN    ITALY.  325 

miles  south-west  of  Pavia,  and  several  villages,  were  rebuilt, 
by  the  aid  of  the  Milanese.  The  relative  position  of  these 
places  shows  how  much  the  Italians  were  weakened  by  their 
internal  divisions. 

In  1158,  Frederick  appeared  again,  with  a  numerous  army 
of  German  barbarians.  The  same  desolation  again  marked 
his  course.  His  principal  object  was  to  reduce  Milan.  He 
could  not  force  an  entry  into  the  city,  and  attempted  to  reduce 
it  by  famine.  The  Milanese  could  see  their  fields  desolated 
from  their  walls.  Wearied,  at  length,  he  made  a  treaty.  One 
of  the  provisions  was,  that  he  should  send  into  the  city  a 
foreigner,  with  supreme  power,  called  a  podesta,  (from  the 
Latin  potestas,  power  or  authority.)  These,  and  other  con- 
ditions, were  so  oppressive,  that,  in  the  following  year,  Milan 
drove  out  the  podesta,  and  again  took  to  arms.  Frederick  did 
not  attempt  to  reduce  Milan,  but  applied  his  force  to  the  city  of 
Crema,  one  of  its  allies.  Crema  is  on  the  river  Adda,  twenty- 
two  miles  north-east  of  Parvia,  and  twenty-five  nearly  north- 
east of  Milan.  Frederick  had  a  number  of  young  persons  as 
hostages,  children  of  citizens  of  Crema.  He  erected  a  move- 
able tower,  and  bound  these  children  to  it  in  the  most  exposed 
position,  and  forced  the  tower,  containing  armed  men,  close  to 
the  walls  of  the  city.  The  besieged  had  the  election  to  be 
subdued,  or  to  destroy  their  children  in  repelling  their  foes. 
They  called  to  their  children  to  die  nobly,  and  they  were 
killed,  if  not  by  the  hands  of  their  own  parents,  within  their 
view.  The  tower  was  repelled  ;  but,  after  six  months,  famine 
conquered  these  gallant  people.  They  were  allowed  to  retire 
to  Milan,  but  their  city  was  given  up,  first  to  pillage,  and  then 
to  flames.  (January  26,  1160.) 

Frederick  remained  in  Italy,  prosecuting  the  war.  Rein- 
forced from  Germany,  in  1161  he  renewed  his  attack  on 
Milan.  In  March,  1 162,  he  reduced  the  city  by  famine,  and 
its  inhabitants  surrendered  at  discretion.  On  the  25th  of  that 
month,  he  had  ordered  every  living  being  to  depart,  and  then 
utterly  destroyed  the  whole  city,  literally  leaving  not  one  stone 
on  another. 

The  measures  of  Frederick  had  alienated  some  cities  which 
had  supported  him,  and  a  feeling  of  sympathy  and  compassion 
for  the  Milanese,  generally  gained  strength.  Five  years  after- 
wards, and  even  while  Frederick  was  employed  in  controver- 
sies in  Italy,  near  Rome,  the  people  in  northern  Italy  met  and 
formed  the  League  of  Lombardy,  in  1167.  Even  the  Guelfs 
and  Ghibelines  now  united  to  resist  the  common  oppressor.  The 
28 


336  NORTHERN    ITALY. 

towns  and  cities  of  the  Verona  territory  joined  in  this  league. 
Verona  is  a  very  important  city,  in  the  north-eastern  part  of 
Italy,  ninety  miles  east  by  north  from  Pa  via,  a  territory  through 
which  the  river  Adige  flows.  These  cities  also  joined  the 
league,  viz.  Treviso,  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  north-east; 
Ferrara,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  east  by  south ;  Mantua, 
eighty  miles  east ;  Brescia,  forty-five  miles  north-east ;  Berga- 
mo, thirty-five  miles  north-east ;  and  Lodi,  fifteen  miles  north- 
east, from  Pavia.  Venice,  on  the  east  coast  of  northern  Italy, 
joined  the  league.  Nearly  all  the  considerable  cities  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Po  had  combined  in  the  common  defence. 
Ferrara,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Po,  joined  the  confederates. 

In  April,  1167,  the  militia  of  six  of  these  cities  assisted  the 
people  of  Milan,  and,  under  their  creditable  zeal  and  persever- 
ance, Milan  rose  again  from  its  ruins,  and  was  soon  prepared 
to  oppose  itself  anew  to  its  relentless  enemy.  Meanwhile,  the 
emperor  was  occupied  in  attempting  to  reduce  Rome  to  obe- 
dience. This  patriotic  spirit,  on  the  north  of  the  Po,  extended 
itself  to  the  cities  on  and  south  of  that  river,  and  these  cities 
soon  joined  the  northern  confederacy,  viz.  Placentia,  east 
twenty  miles  on  the  Po ;  Parma,  fifty-five  south-east ;  Mode- 
na,  eighty-five  south-east ;  Bologna,  one  hundred  and  twenty 
south-east  from  Pavia.  Other  cities  afterwards  joined,  viz. 
Novara,  twenty-five  north-west ;  Vercelli,  thirty  west ;  Como, 
thirty  north ;  Tertona,  twenty  south-west,  and  Asti  forty  south- 
west from  Pavia.  When  Frederick  returned  from  Rome,  he 
found  nearly  the  whole  of  northern  Italy  confederated  to 
oppose  him.  In  the  month  of  March,  1168,  he  departed  over 
Mount  Cenis  into  Burgundy,  (now  Dauphine  in  France,)  to 
recruit  his  forces  and  re-commence  his  profitless  warfare. 
Pavia  and  Montferrat  still  adhered  to  the  emperor.  Montfer- 
rat  is  a  territory  of  considerable  extent  in  the  south-west  cor- 
ner of  Italy,  adjoining  Piedmont.  To  sever  Pavia  and  Mont- 
ferrat, the  confederates  built  the  city  of  Alexandria,  twenty-five 
miles  south-west  of  Pavia,  near  the  confluence  of  the  two 
rivers  Tanero  and  Bormio,  which  unite,  and  soon  after  fall 
into  the  Po,  on  the  south  side. 

In  1 174,  Frederick  came  with  another  army,  but.  met  with 
little  success.  An  attempt  to  treat,  failed,  from  the  exorbitant 
demands  of  the  emperor.  He  gained  nothing  during  the 
winter.  Having  strengthened  himself  by  new  forces  from 
Germany,  in  the  spring  of  1176  he  resolved  to  crush  the  Mi- 
lanese army,  which  encountered  him  north-west  of  Milan,  a 
few  miles.     Fortune,  at  first,  favored  him,  when  nine  hundred 


NORTHERN    ITALY.  327 

young-  men,  in  a  body,  having  knelt  and  invoked  God,  rushed 
to  the  conflict ;  and  their  example,  re-animating  the  Milanese, 
all  united  in  one  deadly  effort.  Frederick  was,  at  length, 
completely  vanquished,  and  escaped,  himself,  with  extreme 
peril.     A  truce  of  six  years  followed. 

At  the  end  of  that  time,  a  diet  or  congress  was  held  at  Con- 
stance, in  the  north-east  corner  of  Switzerland,  (on  the  lake  of 
Constance,)  and  on  the  25th  of  June,  1183,  a  final  treaty  of 
peace  was  settled.  The  following  is  Sismondi's  account  of 
the  terms  of  this  peace : — The  emperor  renounced  all  regal 
privileges  which  he  had  claimed  in  the  interior  of  the  cities. 
He  acknowledged  the  right  of  the  confederate  cities  to  levy 
armies,  enclose  themselves  within  fortifications,  and  to  exercise 
civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction,  by  officers  of  their  own  appoint- 
ment, and  to  choose  consuls  by  the  nomination  of  the  people. 
The  cities  were  authorized  to  take  measures  to  strengthen 
their  confederation,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  rights  acknowl- 
edged by  this  treaty. 

The  rights  of  the  emperor  were  also  defined  ;  but  the  con- 
federates had  the  further  right  to  buy  out  these,  by  an  annual 
payment  of  two  thousand  marks  of  silver. 

Thus,  after  a  relentless  war  of  the  third  of  a  century,  the 
cities  of  northern  Italy  had  fought  themselves  free  against  the 
whole  German  empire.  The  annual  payment  was  only  the 
form  in  which  that  liberty  was  acknowledged.  This  was  the 
first  instance  of  a  treaty  between  a  monarch  and  his  sub- 
jects, in  which  the  rights  of  independent  self-government  were 
established.  (June,  1183.) 

The  restless  Frederick  was  soon  after  induced,  at  a  very 
advanced  age,  to  engage  in  a  crusade  to  the  holy  land.  In  his 
way  thither,  he  accidentally  lost  his  life,  from  bathing  (as  it  is 
said)  in  a  river,  (the  Cydnus  or  the  Salef.)  near  the  north-east 
corner  of  the  Mediterranean,  in  the  year  1190. 


328  ITALY. 

CHAPTER   LI. 

ITALY. 

« 

From  the  Peace  of   Constance,  in  1133,  to  the  death  of  Frederick  II, 
Emperor  of  Germany  and  King  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  in  1250. 

The  events  of  these  sixty-seven  years  require  a  more  ex- 
tended view  of  Italy,  and  some  description  of  the  agents  who 
were  engaged  in  them. 

1.  German  Emperors. — Henry  VI.,  son  of  Frederick  Bar- 
barossa,  succeeded  his  father,  and  died  September  28,  1 197. 
Henry  had  married  Constance,  heiress  of  the  Two  Sicilies, 
and,  in  her  right,  was  king.  On  his  death,  the  crown  of  the 
Two  Sicilies  went  to  Henry's  infant  son,  Frederick  II.  Two 
emperors  were  elected  on  Henry's  death :  Philip  I.,  brother 
of  Henry  VI.,  by  the  Ghibelines ;  Otho  IV.,  son  of  Henry 
the  Lion,  by  the  Guelfs.  While  these  two  lived,  civil  war 
raged  in  Germany.  Philip  was  assassinated  in  1208.  Otho 
reigned  till  1212,  undisturbed,  when  the  pope,  Innocent  III., 
caused  Frederick  II.,  son  of  Henry  VI,  to  go  to  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle  and  be  crowned.  Then  Otho  IV.  and  Frederick  II. 
were  both  emperors  until  May,  1218,  when  Otho  died. 

2.  The  Popes. — Innocent  III.  reigned  from  1197  to  1216, 
and  was  the  greatest  man  in  Europe,  in  his  time.  Honorius 
III.  from  1216  to  1227;  Gregory  IX.  from  1227  to  1241; 
Celestine  IV.,  then  Innocent  IV.  from  1243  to  1254. 

3.  The  Noble  Families  of  Italy. — While  the  Italian  cities 
and  Frederick  Barbarossa  were  contending,  the  nobles  seem 
not  to  have  taken  a  conspicuous  part  on  either  side.  These 
families  had  formerly  been  feudal  lords  throughout  Italy. 
Their  castles  still  crowned  the  summits  of  the  hills,  and  were 
scattered  on  the  plains.  When  the  cities  became  free,  and 
were  powerful  enough  to  take  and  hold  the  lands  around 
them,  the  nobles  had  no  resource  but  to  join  the  cities.  Very 
few  of  them  were  sufficiently  powerful  to  retain  their  domin- 
ions and  their  vassals  in  a  state  of  independence ;  and  even 
these  few  (now  disconnected  from  the  German  empire)  were 
obliged  to  continue,  without  a  country,  or  to  join  some  one  of 
the  cities.  Thus,  all  the  nobles  became  members  of  cities, 
and  brought  with  them  their  enmities  as  Guelfs  and  Ghibe- 


ELEMENTS    OF    HISTORY.  329 

lines.  These  two  parties  became  prominent  agents  in  these 
sixty-seven  years. 

4.  The  Subjects  of  Contest. — The  emperors  and  the  popes 
were  still  contending  for  dominion.  The  Ghibeline  cities 
sustained  the  pretensions  of  the  former ;  the  Guelf  cities  those 
of  the  latter.  These  two  different  descriptions  of  cities  were, 
therefore,  hostile.  Not  only  the  north,  but  the  middle  and  the 
south  of  Italy,  engaged  in  these  contests. 

Although  the  events  from  1183  to  1250,  in  Italy,  are  many 
and  complicated,  and  embrace  the  whole  surface  of  Italy,  they 
arose  from  a  policy  which  explains  all  of  them.  The  Ghibe- 
line party  adhered  to  the  emperors  of  Germany,  the  Guelfs  to 
the  popes  and  the  church.  The  emperors  and  the  popes  were 
always  hostile  rivals.  But  these  relations  were  not  invariable. 
If  a  Guelf  emperor  happened  to  be  elected,  (as  was  the  case 
in  the  election  of  Otho  IV.,)  the  Guelfs  changed  sides.  If  it 
suited  the  papal  policy  to  oppose  the  Guelf  emperor,  which 
was  the  case  as  to  Frederick  II.  (Ghibeline)  when  opposed  to 
Otho,  (Guelf,)  the  pope,  for  the  time,  became  Ghibeline.  But 
the  general  aspect  of  Italian  affairs  for  this  period  of  sixty- 
seven  years,  is  this  : — The  popes  used  every  effort,  founded  in 
spiritual  domination,  in  artful  intrigues,  in  exciting  wars  and 
rebellions,  to  control  the  imperial  power.  They  had  well- 
founded  apprehensions  of  being  reduced  to  the  humble  condi- 
tion of  Roman  bishops.  The  crowns  of  Lombardy,  of  Ger- 
many, of  Naples  and  Sicily,  were  united  in  Frederick  II. 
This  prince  was  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  his  time,  and  sur- 
passed only  by  Innocent  III.,  who  was  of  middle  age,  noble 
by  birth,  and  entitled  to  be  ranked  with  Gregory  VII.  in  his 
ecclesiastical  zeal  and  ambition.  The  territories  over  which 
Frederick  had  dominion,  enclosed  the  papal  territories.* 

Frederick  II.  was  placed  under  the  guardianship  of  Inno- 
cent III.  when  about  four  years  old,  by  his  widowed  moth- 
er, Constance,  who  soon  after  died.  Innocent  had  caused 
Frederick  to  be  crowned  from  interested  motives  ;  but  when 
Honorius  III.  succeeded  Innocent,  Frederick  naturally  return- 
ed to  hostility  to  the  papal  authority,  and  to  alliance  with  the 
Ghibeline  cities  and  nobles ;  while  Honorius  necessarily  re- 
lied on  his  spiritual  power,  and  on  the  cities,  nobles,  and  peo- 
ple, distinguished  as  Guelfs.  Among  the  Guelfs  was  the 
powerful  family  of  Este,  which  had  long  been  sovereign  over 

*  See  chap.  iii.  part  I.  of  Hallam's  Middle  Ages,  as  to  the  extent  and 
title  of  the  church  estates. 

28* 


330  ELEMENTS    OF    HISTORY. 

an  extensive  territory  north  of  the  Po,  in  eastern  Lombardy, 
west  of  Venice,  including  Padua  and  Verona.  North  of  this 
territory,  and  extending  to  the  Alps,  was  another  territory, 
held  by  the  family  of  Romana,  of  which  the  dukes  or  mar- 
quises were  called  Ezza,  or  Eccelino.  This  family  were 
Ghibelines.  Thus,  in  many  parts  of  northern  and  middle 
Italy,  were  intermingled  the  families  of  these  two  parties ;  and 
in  every  city  the  same  party  distinctions  appeared,  the  Guelfs 
being,  usually,  on  the  popular  side. 

By  the  peace  of  Constance  (1183)  the  cities  of  northern 
Italy  were  left  to  choose  their  own  forms  of  government,  and 
this  freedom  extended  itself  to  all  the  cities  in  the  middle  part 
of  Italy.  Various  forms  of  popular  election  were  adopted. 
Security  against  the  abuse  of  power  was  sought  in  frequent 
elections  and  from  rotation  in  office.  But  sudden  and  violent 
revolutions  were  of  frequent  occurrence.  To  guard  against 
these,  the  expedient  was  adopted,  in  most  of  the  cities,  of 
choosing  an  eminent  person,  of  some  other  city,  to  come  and 
rule  for  a  year.  To  this  officer  the  name  of  podesta  was 
given,  and  he  exercised  military  and  judicial  power,  amount- 
ing almost  to  despotism.  It  was  hoped  that  a  stranger,  dis- 
connected from  interior  factions,  would  be  able  to  exercise  his 
authority  impartially  and  usefully  for  all.  This  hope  was 
seldom  realized.  Councils  of  citizens  were  sometimes  chosen 
to  regulate  or  control  the  podesta.  The  Italians  were  never 
able  to  balance  powers  in  such  a  manner  as  to  secure  them- 
selves from  usurpations  and  tyranny.  The  legislative,  the 
judicial,  and  the  executive  authorities  were  so  united  in  the 
same  individual,  or  body,  that  no  check  of  the  one  on  the 
other  existed,  and  tyrannical  use  of  power  was  inevitable.  But 
that  which  added  to  the  social  insecurity  of  these  cities  was, 
that  the  military  power  was  usually  added  to  the  other  three, 
and  often  silenced  all  of  them.  Citizens  were  armed  for  self- 
defence,  and  dwelling-places  were,  more  or  less,  fortified.  On 
the  first  alarm,  the  shops  were  closed,  and  chains  thrown 
across  the  streets.  Whole  families  were  butchered  or  exiled, 
and  palaces  razed  to  the  ground.  Sometimes  the  Ghibelines 
were  expelled  and  banished,  and  sometimes  the  Guelfs.  As 
fortune  favored  the  exiled,  they  returned  to  take  vengeance  on 
their  adversaries. 

One  of  the  most  detestable  tyrants  that  ever  appeared  on 
earth,  was  Eccelino,  of  the  family  of  Romana,  appointed  by 
Frederick  II.  to  rule  at  Verona.  He  was  of  diminutive  stat- 
ure, cold  and  merciless,  unequalled  in  bravery  and  military 


MILAN.  331 

skill.  It  would  require  a  volume  to  narrate  all  the  instances 
of  his  cruelty.  It  was  said  to  be  common  all  over  northern 
Italy  to  see  persons  who  were  either  without  hands,  without 
ears,  without  eyes,  or  otherwise  disfigured  and  maimed,  who 
declared  themselves  to  have  been  reduced  to  such  miserable 
condition  by  this  Eccelino.  He  had  eleven  thousand  Paduans 
in  his  army.  Padua  revolted.  These  eleven  thousand  were 
imprisoned,  and  all  but  two  hundred  met  a  violent  or  lingering 
death.  He,  at  length,  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  in 
September,  1259.  After  he  was  made  prisoner,  he  refused  to 
speak,  rejected  medicine,  tore  the  bandages  from  his  wounds, 
and  expired  on  the  eleventh  day  of  his  captivity,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-five.  In  the  following  year,  his  brother  and  all  his  fam- 
ily were  massacred. 

The  power  of  the  church,  acting  on  the  superstition  of  the 
age,  at  length  subdued  Frederick.  Repeated  excommunica- 
tions, and  especially  that  pronounced  by  a  council  convened  at 
Lyons  by  Innocent  IV.,  in  the  year  1245,  terrified  the  empe- 
ror's friends,  and  induced  them  to  forsake  him.  He  retired  to 
Naples,  and  died  there  in  December,  1250,  in  his  fifty-sixth 
year.  The  papists  draw  his  character  in  very  dark  colors. 
While,  on  the  other  hand,  many  excellencies  are  ascribed  to 
him,  as  a  prince  and  as  a  man.  It  is  not  denied  that  he  was 
much  in  advance  of  his  own  age  in  his  acquirements.  Under 
other  circumstances,  he  might  have  been  ranked  among  those 
who  would  have  promoted  intelligence,  and  have  essentially 
aided  in  dispelling  barbarism. 

From  1250  to  1313. — These  sixty-three  years  exhibit  the 
people  of  Italy  in  a  series  of  internal  tumults  and  vindictive 
wars.  They  had  earned  freedom  at  great  expense  ;  but  they 
proved,  as  so  many  other  people  have  done,  that  to  drive  out 
despotism  is  one  thing,  and  to  substitute  rational  liberty  is 
entirely  another.  The  external  pressure  having  been  remov- 
ed, the  thought  and  action  devoted  to  that  removal,  had  now  to 
find  objects  at  home.  The  party  names  continued,  but  they 
served  only  to  designate  virulent,  insatiable  factions.  Before 
the  end  of  these  sixty-three  years,  the  republics  of  Italy  had 
prepared  themselves  for  masters,  and  were  willing  to  be  at 
rest  under  a  severer  despotism  than  that  which  they  had  ex- 
pelled. 

In  the  year  1250,  there  were  more  than  two  hundred  politi- 
cal communities  in  Italy,  exercising  the  rights  of  government 
independently  of  each  other.     The  same  events  involved,  in 


332  MILAN. 

general,  several  of  these  communities.  Historians  have,  there- 
fore, found  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  seize  on  any  leading 
principle,  and  so  to  adhere  to  that  as  to  make  an  intelligible, 
connected  narrative,  out  of  such  complication  of  facts.  Noth- 
ing more  is  necessary,  and  nothing  more  will  be  attempted, 
than  to  give  a  concise  view  of  the  principal  communities,  con- 
sidering, as  far  as  may  be  practicable,  each  one  by  itself. 

In  northern  Italy,  Milan  was  always  regarded  as  the  lead- 
ing city.  There  were  several  villages  and  cities  in  its  neigh- 
borhood, whose  political  fortunes  were  inseparable  from  those 
of  Milan.  The  population  of  this  city  consisted  of  Ghibeline 
and  Guelf  nobles,  and  their  respective  followers,  and  of  mer- 
chants and  mechanics,  priests  and  laborers.  Its  government 
was  vested  in  councils,  variously  chosen,  at  different  times, 
and  of  a  chief  executive  officer,  always  a  foreigner,  and  chosen 
for  one  year,  and  exercising  his  power  as  podesta.  Besides 
the  incessant  personal  quarrels  between  the  two  noble  factions, 
there  was  a  contest  for  power  between  three  parties,  the  Ghib- 
elines,  the  Guelfs,  and  the  citizens.  If  there  be  any  general 
principle  in  the  historical  events  of  Milan,  from  1250  to  1500, 
it  is  found  in  the  action  of  these  three  parties  on  each  other. 
To  which  may  be  added,  that  this  action  often  took  a  tempo- 
rary character  from  external  causes :  that  is,  the  position  in 
which  Milan  stood,  at  different  times,  in  respect  to  foreign 
communities ;  and,  finally,  from  the  absolute  dominion  of  a 
single  family. 

It  often  happened  in  Milan,  as  it  formerly  did  in  ancient 
Rome,  that  some  distinguished  noble  (whatever  the  real  motive 
may  have  been)  would  join  the  popular  side.  Pagan  della 
Torre,  lord  of  Valsassina,  a  territory  north  of  Milan,  at  the 
foot  of  the  Alps,  commended  himself  to  the  people  of  Milan. 
He  had  raised  and  employed  a  body  of  cavalry  for  the  defence 
of  the  city.  He,  and  others  of  his  family,  acquired  a  popu- 
larity which  was  soon  connected  with  office.  That  of  podesta 
was  followed  by  the  title  of  elder,  and  then,  lord  of  the  people. 
Philip,  one  of  this  family,  had  been  raised  to  like  honors,  in 
1264,  over  several  cities  around  Milan.  Thus,  in  less  than 
fifteen  years  after  the  sovereignty  of  the  German  emperors 
became  merely  nominal,  the  Milanese  and  their  neighbors  had 
prepared  for  themselves  a  master. 

The  elevation  of  the  della  Torre  family  could  not  fail  to 
bring  out  envy,  jealousy,  and  rivalry.  These  sentiments  were 
exhibited  in  the  noble  family  of  Visconti,  who  were  lords  over 
another  territory,  northwardly  of  Milan,  towards  the  Alps. 


MILAN.  333 

While  the  della  Torre  family  ruled  at  Milan,  the  archbishop 
of  that  city  was  one  of  the  Visconti  family.  He,  with  others, 
was  exiled.  The  Ghibelines,  who  had  been  previously  exiled, 
united  with  the  archbishop,  and  formed  an  army  to  reinstate 
themselves.  The  della  Torre  party  went  forth  from  the  city 
in  January,  1277,  to  meet  the  archbishop  and  his  forces,  but 
were  surprised  and  defeated;  the  Visconti  triumphed,  and 
Milan  and  its  dependencies  became  a  principality,  under  that 
family.  It  so  continued  till  1302.  In  this  time  the  Visconti 
had  become  rich  and  powerful,  and  had  formed  many  family 
alliances  tending  to  the  exaltation  of  their  house.  Their  reign 
was  that  of  the  Ghibelines.  Then  the  Guelfs  prevailed,  and 
Guido  della  Torre,  after  an  exile  of  twenty-five  years,  was 
restored,  and  the  Ghibelines  banished.  But  in  1311,  when 
Henry  VII.  appeared,  he  required  the  banishment  of  the 
Guelfs,  and  the  restoration  of  the  Ghibelines.  The  Visconti 
resumed  their  power,  and  made  it  little  short  of  absolute. 
Matteo  Visconti  ruled  Milan  as  its  lord  and  master,  but  in  a 
manner  which  was  useful  to  the  governed,  and  creditable  to 
himself,  until  1322.  This  was  the  reign  of  the  Ghibeline 
faction.  Galeazzo  Visconti  succeeded  Matteo  his  father.  The 
Guelfs  displaced  him  for  a  short  time.  He  was  recalled  and 
reinstated  with  the  lordship  of  Milan. 

In  1348,  the  Visconti  family  had  enlarged  their  territories 
around  Milan,  and  now  ruled  over  the  central  part,  from  the 
state  of  Genoa  on  the  south,  to  the  Alps  on  the  north.  On  the 
west,  the  limit  extended  to  the  lands  of  the  marquis  of  Mont- 
ferrat,  and  on  the  east,  to  those  of  Mantua  and  Parma.  There 
were  now  only  six  independent  states  in  northern  Italy: 
Montferrat,  Milan,  Verona,  Padua,  Mantua,  and  Ferrara,  all 
of  them  under  the  government  of  noble  families;  the  whole 
was  included  in  the  dominions  of  one  or  other  of  them.  In 
1351,  the  Visconti  lord  of  Milan  ruled  over  sixteen  cities  of 
Lombardy,  which  had  been  so  many  independent  republics. 
Bologna  was  added  by  military  force,  and  an  attempt  made  on 
Florence.  In  1368,  the  Milanese  lordship  had  been  still  en- 
larged, and  was  then  held  by  two  brothers  of  the  Visconti 
family,  who  were  exceedingly  powerful  in  money  and  military 
force,  and  allied  by  marriage  to  the  royal  families  of  France 
and  England.  A  more  odious  picture  of  cruelty  and  tyranny 
does  not  appear  in  history,  than  that  drawn  of  these  two 
brothers.  Ingenuity  was  exhausted  to  invent  tortures  for  the 
accused  and  condemned. 

Pope  Urban  V.  attempted  to  oppose  the  usurpations  of  the 


334  MILAN. 

Visconti,  who  were  extending  their  power  into  Tuscany. 
The  pope  issued  his  bull  of  excommunication,  and  sent  it,  by- 
two  legates,  to  Milan,  who  presented  this  terrible  anathema  to 
Barnabas  Visconti,  one  of  the  two  brothers.  But  the  effect 
expected  by  the  pope  did  not  follow.  "  Barnabas  forced  the 
two  legates  to  eat,  in  his  presence,  the  parchment  on  which, 
the  bull  was  written,  together  with  the  leaden  seals  and  silken 
strings."  From  1375  to  1378,  the  Visconti,  and  Florence, 
and  the  church,  were  involved  in  war.  In  the  latter  year  a 
congress  was  held  to  negotiate  a  peace,  which  ended  without 
effecting  that  object.  But  the  terror  which  the  Visconti  had 
inspired  throughout  northern  Italy,  subsided  as  Barnabas,  the 
surviving  brother,  yielded  to  the  inroads  of  time  and  infirmity. 

The  brother  whom  Barnabas  survived  left  a  son  named 
Gian  Galeazzo,  who  appears  to  have  been  jointly  entitled  with 
Barnabas  to  sovereignty,  and  the  family  riches.  In  providing 
for  his  children,  Barnabas  intended  to  deprive  his  nephew  of 
his  share,  for  their  benefit.  The  nephew  had  discovered 
several  plots  against  him,  but  uttered  no  complaint.  He  shut 
himself  up  at  Pavia,  and  devoted  himself  to  rigorous  observ- 
ance of  religious  duties,  always  in  the  presence  of  men  of  the 
church.  In  1385,  Galeazzo  informed  his  uncle  that  he  was 
about  to  perform  a  pilgrimage  to  a  shrine  near  lake  Maggiore, 
north  of  Milan;  and  that  he  desired  the  gratification  of  seeing 
his  uncle  as  he  passed.  Barnabas  and  his  two  sons  met 
Galeazzo  a  short  distance  from  Milan,  the  latter  having  with 
him  a  guard  suited  only  to  his  expedition,  though  numerous. 
When  the  parties  drew  near  to  each  other,  Galeazzo  respectful- 
ly dismounted,  and  while  he  embraced  his  uncle,  said  in  Ger- 
man to  his  guards,  "Strike!"  The  uncle  and  the  two  sons 
were  seized  and  transported  to  a  prison,  where  Barnabas 
finished  his  days,  at  the  close  of  the  same  year.  No  one 
avenged  or  regretted  the  fate  of  Barnabas ;  and  no  one  hailed 
the  accession  of  Galeazzo.  The  Milanese,  once  so  free,  and  so 
proud  and  worthy  of  freedom,  had  sunk  to  the  level  of  slaves, 
and  were  indifferent  by  whom  the  rod  of  a  tyrant  was  held. 

Galeazzo  Visconti  ruled  Milan  and  its  territories  from  1385 
to  1402.  In  this  time,  he  extended  his  dominions  to  the  Adri- 
atic sea,  and  had  made  conquests  in  middle  Italy.  Florence 
purchased,  at  great  cost,  a  peace  often  years;  but  this  did  not 
prevent  Visconti  from  seizing  the  city  of  Sienna,  part  of  the 
Florentine  territory.  A  more  detestable  character  than  Gale- 
azzo Visconti  is  of  rare  occurrence  in  any  age  of  the  world. 
The  scale  of  his  morality  was  to  acquire  whatsoever  he  want- 


MILAN.  335 

ed:  his  means  were,  bribery,  perfidy,  fraud,  force,  poison,  the 
dagger,  and  the  rack.  He  had  not  the  merit  of  being  a 
frank,  acknowledged  villain ;  for  that  which  is  most  odious  in 
his  character,  was  the  meanness  that  governed  the  perpetration 
of  his  crimes.  In  the  autumn  of  1402,  the  plague  scourged 
Italy,  in  addition  to  the  calamities  which  this  tyrant  and  usurper 
had  poured  forth.  Visconti  immured  himself  in  his  castle  of 
Marignano,  fifteen  miles  north  of  Milan,  and  cut  off  all  com- 
munication with  the  outward  world.  But  the  enemy  he  sought 
to  escape  penetrated  to  his  seclusion,  and  put  an  end  to  his 
crimes  and  his  life  in  September,  1402. 

The  necessity  of  having  arms,  and  of  knowing  how  to  use 
them,  had  driven  the  Italians  to  many  expedients.  That  of 
forming  independent  military  bodies,  for  the  express  purpose 
of  selling  their  time  and  skill  to  the  highest  bidder,  was  the 
most  dangerous  of  all  these  expedients  to  the  peace  and  security 
of  the  country.  "  Companies  of  adventure,"  as  they  were 
called,  composed  of  English,  French,  Gascons,  and  others, 
who  had  served  in  the  wars  between  France  and  England, 
appeared  in  Italy.  Companies  were  also  formed  of  Italians. 
In  the  year  1378,  Alberic,  count  of  Barbiano,  formed  a  milita- 
ry force  composed  of  Italians  only,  under  the  name  of  St. 
George,  which  acquired  the  first  rank  for  military  science,  and 
became  the  school  of  the  soldier.  Other  military  schools  had 
arisen  under  the  patronage  of  Galeazzo  Visconti,  and  he  had 
in  his  court  several  captains  who  were  as  destitute  of  every 
virtue  as  they  were  skilful  in  the  arts  of  destruction.  Such 
had  been  Galeazzo,  and  such  his  policy,  that  when  he  was 
forced  to  think  of  protectors  for  his  young  sons,  and  of  guard- 
ians of  his  dominions,  there  were  no  men  better  adapted  to  his 
purpose  than  these  military  chiefs.  The  widow  of  Galeazzo 
was  associated  with  four  of  these  chiefs  in  this  trust;  and  her 
favorite  was  a  person  of  very  low  origin,  and  who  had  been  a 
servant  of  her  husband.  Such  guardians  soon  exhibited  their 
respective  characters.  The  military  chiefs  divided  the  Milanese 
cities  and  dominions  among  themselves.  The  widow  soon 
found  her  appropriate  place,  in  consequence  of  her  violence, 
perfidy,  and  insatiable  cruelties,  in  a  prison,  where  she  died  by 
poison.  (1404)  Almost  every  city  became  a  separate  princi- 
pality, some  under  Ghibeline,  and  some  under  Guelf  govern- 
ment. This  period  maybe  selected,  perhaps,  as  that  in  which 
crime,  profligacy,  and  debasement  of  every  description,  were 
more  triumphant  in  Italy,  than  at  any  other.  This  appears  to 
have  been  so,  notwithstanding  learning  had  been  successfully 


336  MILAN. 

cultivated  in  several  cities,  within  the  last  fifty  years,  as  will 
be  shown  in  another  place. 

Gian  Maria  Viscont  the  oldest  son  of  Galeazzo,  was  called 
duke  of  Milan,  though  bereft  of  nearly  all  that  his  father  held. 
His  taste  and  ambition  did  not  inspire  him  with  the  desire  of 
governing.  He  contented  himself  with  ministering  to  a  singu- 
lar passion,  that  of  torturing  human  beings.  He  fed  his 
hounds  with  human  flesh,  and  procured  the  condemned  from 
the  tribunals,  that  he  might  see  them  torn  in  pieces  by  his 
dogs.  When  the  supply  fell  short,  he  increased  it,  by  causing 
the  condemnation  of  those  in  whose  crimes  he  had  participated. 
In  1412,  he  was  assassinated. 

The  second  son,  Filippo  Maria  Visconti,  was  about  twenty- 
one  in  1412.  He  is  said  to  have  been  ambitious  and  timid, 
and  so  sensible  of  his  singular  ugliness,  that  after  the  first  year 
he  secluded  himself  entirely  from  public  view.  On  the  death 
of  his  brother  he  appeared  at  Milan.  The  whole  power  had 
been  in  the  hands  of  a  military  chief,  named  Facino  Cane,  who 
died  on  the  same  day  that  the  brother  was  assassinated.  Fi- 
lippo immediately  married  the  widow  of  Cane,  and  thus  ac- 
quired an  influence  over  the  soldiery.  Though  destitute  of  ail 
merit  himself,  Filippo  was  able  to  discover  it  in  others,  and  to 
employ  it  usefully  for  himself.  He  attracted  very  able  men 
into  his  service,  and  especially  one  named  Carmagnola,  a  Pied- 
montese  soldier  of  fortune.  Before  the  end  of  1422,  this  fortu- 
nate soldier  had  brought  all  the  states  and  cities  held  by 
Filippo's  father,  again  under  dominion ;  and  had  added  thereto 
the  republic  of  Genoa,  as  a  dependency  on  Milan. 

That  part  of  Italy  which  extends  south-eastwardly  from  the 
vicinity  of  Bologna  and  Ravenna  along  the  north-east  coast  of 
Italy,  having  Tuscany  on  the  south-west,  was  called  Romagna. 
The  states  of  the  church  are  now,  in  part,  within  Romagna. 
Filippo  having  subdued  northern  Italy,  turned  his  arms  upon 
Romagna  and  Tuscany.  Florence,  Venice,  Sienna,  Alphonso 
of  Naples,  the  duke  of  Savoy,  the  lord  of  Mantua,  and  the 
marquis  of  Ferrara,  united  (1425)  in  a  league  against  Filippo. 
Meanwhile  Carmagnola,  who  had  earned  the  confidence  and 
the  gratitude  of  Filippo,  became  an  object  of  jealousy  and  fear. 
He  was  dismissed  and  disgraced,  and  was  not  even  permitted 
to  know  the  nature  of  his  offence.  He  found  his  way  to 
Venice,  and  entered  the  service  of  the  league.  At  first,  Car- 
magnola was  victorious  over  the  forces  of  his  former  master. 
In  1431,  fortune  deserted  him.  On  this  occasion,  the  peculiar 
policy  of  Venice  comes  into  view.     That  government  never 


MILAN.  337 

employed  its  citizens  in  military  service,  either  as  officers  or 
men.  It  employed  foreigners,  but  never  had  the  least  respect 
for,  nor  confidence  in  any,  whom  they  knew  only  as  adven- 
turers, making  a  traffic  of  their  blood.  Venice  employed  such 
persons,  but  always  with  the  secret  reservation  of  making  them 
responsible,  by  any  means,  however  mysterious  and  perfidious, 
for  all  disasters.  After  Carmagnola  had  been  unfortunate,  he 
was  invited  to  Venice  to  arrange  a  new  campaign.  He  was 
received  with  great  deference  in  the  council  chamber,  detained 
in  conversation  till  the  shades  of  evening  came  on ;  was  then 
seized,  imprisoned^  and  next  day  put  to  the  torture  to  obtain 
secrets.  At  the  end  of  twenty  days  he  was  brought  forth, 
(5th  of  May,  1432,)  his  mouth  gagged ;  and  being  placed  be- 
tween two  columns  on  the  square  of  St.  Mark,  his  head  fell  in 
the  presence  of  a  multitude,  who  knew  of  no  other  principle  of 
government  than  that  of  terror. 

The  battles  which  Carmagnola  had  fought  against  the 
Milanese,  were  in  the  eastern  part  of  northern  Italy,  near  the 
banks  of  the  Po,  and  mostly  on  the  northern  side  of  that  river. 

The  residue  of  Filippo's  reign  was  spent  in  war  with 
Venice  and  Florence.  The  latter  state  had  employed  a  soldier 
of  fortune  named  Francisco  Sforza ;  the  former  employed 
Bartolemeo  Coleoni ;  and  both  are  mentioned  as  able  generals. 
Peace  having  been  made  in  1441,  Filippo  gave  his  daughter 
Bianca  in  marriage  to  Sforza.  The  war  was  renewed,  but 
Sforza  adhered  to  the  Florentines.  In  1447,  Filippo  being 
hard  pressed  by  the  Venetians,  made  offers  to  his  son-in-law 
which  were  accepted ;  and  Sforza  withdrew  his  army,  and 
marched  for  Milan.  On  the  way  he  learned  that  Filippo  died 
13th  of  August,  1447. 

Filippo  left  no  legitimate  successor.  No  one  of  the  Visconti 
family  was  living  but  Bianca,  the  wife  of  Sforza,  the  natural 
daughter  of  Filippo;  and  Valentina,  a  sister  of  the  last  duke 
Galeazzo.  She  was  then  the  wife  of  the  French  duke  of  Or- 
leans. Females  were  excluded  from  the  ducal  succession. 
Four  of  the  citizens  of  Milan  excited  an  insurrection,  and  the 
republic  was  declared  to  be  restored.  Sforza,  and  other  gene- 
rals, agreed  to  support  the  republic.  The  duke  of  Orleans 
asserted  his  claim  by  a  hostile  invasion  on  the  west  side. 
Sforza  employed  himself  against  the  Venetians  on  the  east. 
By  force,  by  intrigue,  and  by  cruelties,  Sforza  procured  him- 
self to  be  proclaimed  duke  of  Milan,  February,  1450;  and 
reigned  till  his  decease  in  March,  1466.  This  person  appears 
to  have  been  greatly  the  superior  of  all  who  had  preceded  him, 
29 


338 


MILAN. 


in  talents,  disposition,  and  usefulness.  His  son  and  successor, 
Galeazzo,  was  weak,  profligate,  and  tyrannical ;  and  not  the 
superior  of  the  worst  of  those  who  had  preceded  him.  Three 
young  patriots  conspired  to  put  him  to  death.  They  studied 
most  diligently,  the  best  means  of  effecting  their  object.  The 
day  selected  was  the  26th  December,  1476;  the  place,  a  church 
at  which  the  duke  was  to  appear  in  a  public  religious  ceremo- 
ny. The  duke  was  slain,  and  two  of  the  conspirators  were 
killed  on  the  spot.  The  third  escaped,  but  was  taken  and 
tortured  to  death.  While  a  prisoner,  he  wrote  an  account  of 
the  conspiracy,  and  of  the  motives.  This  account  is  said,  by 
Sismondi,  to  have  come  down  to  the  present  day  ;  and  he  be- 
stows on  it  the  commendation  of  having  been  "composed  in  a 
strain  of  noblest  enthusiasm,  with  a  deep  religious  feeling, 
with  an  ardent  love  of  liberty,  and  with  a  firm  persuasion  that 
he  had  performed  a  good  action."  This  young  hero  of  twenty- 
two  years,  was  called  Olgiati.  His  heroism  was  rewarded  by 
being  torn  in  pieces  with  red-hot  pincers.  The  widow  of  the 
slain  duke,  Bonne  of  Savoy,  was  made  regent.  She  exiled  the 
brothers  of  her  husband.  They  returned,  and  deposed  her ; 
and  declared  her  son,  Gian  Galeazzo  Sforza,  though  only 
twelve  years  old,  the  reigning  duke.  But  the  oldest  of  these 
brothers,  called  Louis  the  Moor,  assumed  the  government. 
Little  is  said  of  Louis's  exercise  of  power,  until  he  was  called 
on  by  the  king  of  Naples  to  give  up  Milan  to  his  nephew, 
who  had  married  a  Neapolitan  princess.  At  this  time,  (1494,) 
Charles  VIII.  of  France  had  entered  Italy  to  enforce  his 
claims  to  the  crown  of  Naples.  While  Charles  was  moving 
triumphantly  to  his  object  in  the  south,  the  duke  of  Orleans, 
(grandson  of  the  person  of  the  same  name,  before  mentioned,) 
was  left  in  northern  Italy,  he  having  asserted  his  claim  as  the 
heir  of  his  grandmother,  Valentina  Visconti,  to  the  duchy  of 
Milan.  Louis  the  Moor,  (or,  as  he  is  sometimes  called,  Ludo- 
vico  Sforza,)  armed  to  meet  the  duke  of  Orleans,  and  besieged 
him  at  No  vara,  thirty  miles  north-west  from  Pavia.  Charles, 
returning  from  Naples  to  France,  halted  at  the  neighboring 
town  of  Asti,  to  negotiate  for  the  delivery  of  the  duke  of  Or- 
leans, which  he  accomplished. 

On  the  death  of  Charles,  Louis,  the  claimant  of  the  duchy 
of  Milan,  became  king  of  France  under  the  name  of  Louis 
XII.  He  seemed  much  more  ambitious  of  gaining  Milan, 
than  of  reigning  in  France.  It  was  at  this  time,  (during  the 
presence  of  Charles  VIII.  and  Louis  XII.  in  Italy,)  that  the 
Swiss  became  known  on  the  south  side  of  the  Alps,"  as  soldiers 


t 


VENICE.  339 


who  let  themselves  for  wages,  regardless  to  whom,  or  on  which 
side,  or  of  the  object  of  the  war. 

In  August,  1499,  Louis  passed  the  Alps  with  a  powerful 
army,  and  took  two  small  fortresses,  where  he  put  every  living 
creature  to  the  sword.  The  army  of  Ludovico  Sforza,  terri- 
fied by  this  ferocity,  dispersed,  and  Ludovico  escaped  to  Ger- 
many. In  October,  1499,  Louis  entered  Milan  without  oppo- 
sition, and  was  received  as  its  lawful  sovereign.  But  the 
rapacity  and  insolence  of  the  French,  combined  the  Italians 
against  them.  Ludovico  re-appeared  the  following  year  with 
a  considerable  army,  and  was  joyfully  received  in  several 
cities.  There  was  a  numerous  body  of  hired  Swiss  in  Ludo- 
vico's  army.  Louis  XII.  prepared  to  suppress  this  rebellion, 
as  he  considered  it,  and  in  April,  1500,  came  with  an  army  in 
which  were  ten  thousand  Swiss.  Thus  it  happened  that  two 
bodies  of  Swiss  were  opposed,  and  about  to  cut  each  other  in 
pieces  in  an  affair  that  interested  them  in  nothing  beyond  their 
wages.  Ludovico's  Swiss  were  in  the  fortified  city  of  Novara. 
Louis's  Swiss  were  employed  to  take  that  city.  The  Swiss, 
on  both  sides,  hesitated,  and  came,  at  length,  to  an  understand- 
ing, that  those  in  Novara  should  surrender,  and  should  take 
with  them  and  deliver  up  to  the  French  all  the  Italian  soldiers 
in  that  place.  Ludovico  and  his  two  brothers  could  obtain  no 
other  favor  than  to  be  allowed  to  march  out  with  the  Swiss,  in 
the  disguise  of  Swiss  uniform,  and  intermingle  with  the  com- 
mon ranks.  This  ingenuity  did  not  save  them.  Ludovico 
was  soon  known,  and  transferred  to  France  as  a  prisoner. 
Such  he  remained  during  life.  Milan  and  its  dependent  cities 
and  territories  remained  subject  to  the  king  of  France,  till 
June,  1512. 


CHAPTER  LII. 

THE    REPUBLIC    OF    VENICE. 

Venice  has  been  celebrated  for  its  commerce,  riches,  and 
maritime  grandeur ;  but  more  for  its  singular  and  self-devoted 
policy,  and  its  deliberate  crimes,  as  a  state.  Its  origin  is 
referred  by  some  writers  to  the  fifth,  by  others,  to  the  sixth 
century.  It  undoubtedly  began  when  some  of  the  inhabitants 
of  northern  Italy  fled  from  the  barbarians,  (who  crossed  the 


340 


VENICE. 


Alps,)  and  sought  security  in  the  low  marshes  formed  by  the 
deposites  of  the  many  rivers  which  descend  from  the  Alps  on 
the  one  side,  and  the  Apnenines  on  the  other,  and  empty  into  the 
Adriatic.  In  this  retreat  they  were  protected  by  the  difficulty 
of  approaching  their  abodes,  but  more  by  their  poverty. 
These  people  were  first  employed  in  extracting  salt  from  the 
sea,  and  in  fishing.  The  sea  was  their  only  resource.  Sepa- 
rated from  the  land  which  they  had  inhabited,  and  having 
none  of  their  own  but  these  low  marshes,  they  were  necessa- 
rily directed  to  navigation  and  commerce,  which  began  with 
their  salt  and  their  fish.  From  this  humble  origin  arose,  in 
more  senses  than  one,  from  the  sea,  mighty  and  magnificent 
Venice,  and  which  preserved  the  name  of  republic  through  a 
longer  lapse  of  time  than  any  other  state.  It  is  believed  that 
Venice  is  the  only  capital  in  Europe  that  was  not  entered  by 
a  hostile  power,  before  the  time  of  the  French  revolution.  As 
early  as  the  seventh  century,  the  Venetians  had  found  their 
way  to  Constantinople,  and  the  Levant,  and  to  Egypt.  They 
traded  not  only  wTith  Christians,  but  the  Saracens.  They  are 
reproached  with  having  purchased  slaves  of  the  latter,  to  sell 
again,  and  with  having  sold  arms  to  the  Saracens,  which  were 
used  against  Christians.  The  spirit  of  commerce  was  not 
more  chastened  then,  than  it  has  been  in  posterior  ages. 

The  traffic  with  infidels  had  given  great  offence  to  the 
church,  and  was  interdicted,  under  severe  penalties,  about  the 
end  of  the  eighth  century.  But  the  Venetians  found  means 
to  evade  this  prohibition.  In  the  year  809,  an  island  called 
the  Rialto  was  the  most  considerable  of  the  many,  (said  to 
have  been  ninety,)  which  were  peopled,  and  this  became  the 
centre,  and  all  the  islands  were  connected  with  it  by  bridges, 
more  than  four  hundred  and  fifty  in  number.  Thus  was 
formed  the  city  which  took  the  name  of  Venice.  The  origin 
of  this  name  is  not  stated.  In  the  year  828,  (the  prohibition 
of  the  church  notwithstanding,)  twenty  vessels  of  Venice 
were  near  the  port  of  Alexandria,  and  were,  as  was  alleged, 
forced  to  take  refuge  there  from  a  tempest.  However  these 
vessels  came  there,  they  obtained  from  the  Saracens  the  body 
of  the  evangelist,  St.  Mark,  and  conveyed  it  to  their  city,  and 
St.  Mark  became  their  tutelary  saint.*  Their  cathedral,  their 
grand  palace,  their  armorial  bearings,  were  named  from  their 
saint,  and  even  the  country  of  Venetians  was  expressed  in  the 
comprehensive  name  of  St.  Mark.     The  grandeur  of  Venice 

*  Essai  sur  Pinfluence  des  Croisades,  par  Heeren,  p.  317. 


VENICE.  341 

was  considered,  by  its  inhabitants,  at  least,  to  be  superior  to 
that  of  any  other  city.  They  vaunted  that  Rome  was  built  by 
mortals,  but  their  own  Venice  by  the  gods.  Its  grandeur  con- 
tinued until  the  discovery  o£  the  maritime  route  to  India,  at 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  then  began  to  decline. 
This  remarkable  city,  in  which  the  carriages  are  gondolas, 
and  the  streets  canals,  is  still  visited  with  admiration ;  grand 
in  its  decay,  though  degraded  to  an  appendage  of  the  Aus- 
trian empire. 

The  first  political  state  of  Venice,  in  the  seventh  century, 
was  that  of  a  republic,  having  a  supreme  duke,  (doge,)  its 
legislative  power  residing  in  the  people,  and  its  executive 
power  vested  in  certain  nobles.  It  soon  distinguished  itself 
by  commerce  and  navigation.  Its  early  political  history  is  a 
succession  of  violent  tumults,  arising  from  the  usurpations  of 
the  executive  power  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  vindictive  reac- 
tion of  the  people  on  the  other. 

While  the  princes,  nobles,  and  people  of  western  Europe 
were  intent  on  rescuing  Palestine  from  the  infidels,  Venice 
became  their  most  common  route.  The  ships  and  the  location 
of  Venice,  afforded  facilities  in  these  enterprises,  and,  during 
more  than  a  century,  (from  1150 — 1250,)  many  thousands  of 
crusaders  passed  through  this  city.  Besides  the  money  which 
Venice  accumulated  from  the  crusaders,  the  means  of  com- 
merce were  extended  in  the  east,  and  merchandise  imported 
thence,  was  distributed  in  the  west. 

In  1173,  Venice  was  desolated  by  pestilence,  and  an  attempt 
was  made,  when  this  calamity  subsided,  to  reform  the  govern- 
ment. There  was  then  a  judicial  tribunal  called  The  Forty. 
The  forty  ordered  that  the  six  quarters  of  the  city  should 
choose  two  electors  each,  and  that  these  twelve  should  choose 
four  hundred  and  seventy,  to  be  the  grand  council.  The  same 
opportunity  was  taken  to  provide,  that  for  the  present  occasion 
only,  twelve  persons  should  be  chosen,  who  should  elect  a 
doge.  This  proved  to  be  the  last  of  popular  power  in  elec- 
tions. The  forty  also  provided  that  the  grand  council  should 
annually  choose  six  persons  to  be  the  council  of  the  doge, 
whose  concurrence  should  be  indispensable  in  all  his  official 
acts.  It  was  under  this  reformed  government  that  Venice 
attained  to  a  commercial  grandeur  surpassing  that  of  all  other 
cities. 

In  the  contest  which  arose  between  Frederick  L,  (Barba- 
rossa,)  emperor  of  Germany,  and  pope  Alexander  III.,  the 
latter  took  refuge  in  Venice,  in  1177.  The  republic,  taking 
29* 


342  VENICE. 

the  part  of  the  pope,  sent  ambassadors  to  the  emperor  to  pro- 
pose peace,  and  the  recognition  of  Alexander  as  the  lawful 
head  of  the  church.  Frederick  answered  by  demanding  the 
delivery  to  him  of  his  fugitive  enemy,  and  threatened,  on  non- 
compliance, to  plant  his  eagles  before  the  portal  of  St.  Mark. 
An  attack  on  Venice  followed,  but  the  emperor  was  defeated, 
and  his  son  Otho  taken  prisoner.  Alexander  went  to  meet 
the  returning  victors,  and  then  established  the  ceremony  of  the 
wedding  between  Venice  and  the  Adriatic,  celebrated  annually 
for  centuries  afterwards,  by  the  casting  of  the  ring  into  the 
sea,  in  proof  that  the  sea  was  subjected  to  Venice  as  a  wife  to 
her  husband.  By  the  perseverance  of  Venice,  the  emperor 
was  obliged,  at  length,  to  appear  there  and  negotiate  a  peace, 
acknowledge  Alexander,  and  prostrate  himself  before  his  "  fu- 
gitive enemy." 

In  the  year  1310,  the  people  attempted  to  free  themselves 
from  the  dominion  which  the  grand  council  had  usurped. 
But,  as  in  all  similar  and  unsuccessful  attempts,  the  govern- 
ment seized  the  opportunity  to  strengthen  itself,  and  declared 
that  the  members  who  then  composed  the  grand  council 
should  hold  their  places  during  life,  and  should  be  succeeded 
in  office  by  their  descendants,  without  the  form  of  election. 
This  measure  excited  great  discontent,  and  caused  insurrec- 
tions, evils  which  came  not  alone.  Genoa  had  been  the  com- 
mercial rival  of  Venice,  and  had  gained  two  important  victo- 
ries in  a  long-continued  war.  And,  about  the  same  time,  pope 
Clement  V.  (1309)  having  asserted  pretensions  to  the  city  of 
Ferrara,  Venice  opposed  him,  and  was  subjected  to  a  bull  of 
excommunication.  This  instrument,  as  usual,  absolved  all 
Venetians  from  their  oaths  of  fidelity ;  declared  them  all 
infamous,  incapable  of  making  testaments,  or  exercising  any 
political  power,  and  disqualified  their  children,  to  the  fourth 
generation,  from  attaining  to  any  secular  or  ecclesiastical  dig- 
nity. This  denunciation  had  all  the  effect  that  was  intended. 
The  superstitious  people  of  Venice  attributed  all  their  misfor- 
tunes to  this  papal  indignation.  The  remedy  they  relied  on 
was  a  revolution  ;  and  in  June,  1310,  a  tremendous  battle  was 
fought  by  the  people  on  one  side,  and  the  government  on  the 
other.  The  people  were  defeated.  Trials,  convictions,  and 
sanguinary  executions  followed.  The  people,  however,  had 
only  given  the  opportunity  for  another  innovation,  which 
proved  to  be  the  finishing  step  in  establishing  an  aristocratic 
despotism,  which  endured  for  ages. 

The  secrecy  with  which  the  insurrection  had  been  planned, 


VENICE.  343 

and  its  near  approximation  to  complete  success,  was  the  foun- 
dation on  which  this  despotism  arose.  The  intention  was  to 
surround  the  council  by  a  competent  force,  to  rush  into  the 
public  apartments,  and  exterminate,  at  the  same  moment,  every 
member  of  the  government.  One  conspirator  desired  to  save 
one  member  of  the  council,  and  therefore  went  to  him,  only 
the  evening  before,  and  besought  him  to  remain  at  home  the 
following  day.  The  secret  was  wrung  from  this  person.  The 
government,  informed  of  its  peril,  devoted  the  night  to  prepa- 
ration, as  the  conspirators  were  doing ;  and>  in  the  morning, 
the  adversaries  met. 

To  secure  the  state  against  similar  attempts,  the  doge,  Gra- 
denego,  proposed  the  establishment  of  a  perpetual  aristocracy 
of  the  nobles,  to  be  called  the  Grand  Council  of  Venice. 
Hence,  in  1311,  arose  the  tribunal  of  Ten,  so  powerful  and  so 
detested.  Its  jurisdiction,  obscure  and  tyrannical,  sacrificed 
all  individuals  to  the  safety  of  the  state — placed  in  the  rank  of 
the  greatest  crimes  the  most  indirect  faults  against  government 
— considered  all  those  as  accomplices  in  a  plot  who  did  not 
give  information  of  it — and  made  every  person  who  was  ac- 
cused, regard  himself  as  a  lost  man.  The  Council  of  Ten 
was,  in  fact,  composed  of  seventeen.  It  included  the  doge  and 
his  six  councillors ;  and  yet  the  doge  and  the  whole  of  the 
members  appear  to  have  been  subjected  to  its  inquisition. 
Among  the  devices  of  this  council  was  a  mode  of  obtaining 
information  without  peril  to  the  informer.  The  hollow  figure 
of  a  lion  was  prepared,  and  so  placed,  in  connexion  with  the 
wall  of  the  governmental  palace,  that  a  written  communication 
thrown  into  the  lion's  mouth  would  descend  to  a  box  in  the 
interior  of  the  palace,  of  which  the  tribunal  of  Ten  kept  the 
keys.  Over  the  "  lion's  mouth"  were  words  meaning  "secret 
denunciation."  It  may  readily  be  imagined  what  uses  could 
be  made  of  such  an  instrument,  and  what  fate  must  have  befal- 
len those  whom  the  basest  passions  could  consign  to  the  jeal- 
ous scrutiny  of  this  terrible  tribunal.  While  Venice  still 
retained  the  name  of  a  republic,  there  arose  in  its  bosom,  as  a 
consequence  of  failure  to  recover  liberty,  "  a  tribunal  of  blood, 
which  cast  the  chill  of  terror,  not  only  through  those  who 
attempted,  but  through  all  who  meditated,  the  least  reform." 
The  certainty  of  accusation,  the  secrecy  observed  in  the  inqui- 
sition, the  impossibility  of  escape,  the  horrible  mysteries  which 
attended  the  trial,  and  the  fate  of  the  accused,  are  realities  in 
the  agency  of  man  upon  his  fellow,  which  make  one  shudder. 
In  general,  the  accused  was  despatched  in  secret.     If  the 


344 


VENICE. 


publicity  of  execution  was  expedient,  it  was  no  otherwise  pub- 
lic than  by  the  exposure  of  the  dead  body  in  the  square  of  St. 
Mark,  with  a  label  thereon — For  a  serious  crime  against  the 
state.  Occasionally,  executions  were  public,  as  when  the  de- 
sired effect  could  be  thereby  produced.  It  is  the  common 
destiny  of  human  inventions  and  combinations  which  are,  in 
themselves,  violations  of  the  principles  of  justice  and  the  laws 
of  nature,  to  come  to  an  end  by  their  own  inherent  vice.  And 
this  is  so,  though  the  change  which  supervenes  may  be  only 
a  renewal,  in  some  other  form,  of  the  evils  which  liave  been 
endured.  This  was  not  so  in  Venice.  Its  horrible  system  of 
tyranny  grew  stronger  with  time,  and  continued  in  full  vigor 
till  the  close  of  the  last  century. 

The  social  state  of  Venice  was  no  less  remarkable  than  its 
political  constitution.  The  citizens  of  the  republic  were  thus 
classed: — 1.  The  nobles,  the  whole  number,  thirteen  hundred. 
They  were  not  of  the  same  rank.  The  highest  ranks  com- 
prehended the  descendants  of  those  who  assisted  in  the  election 
of  the  first  doge,  in  the  sixth  century,  and,  consequently,  the 
oldest  noble  families  of  Europe.  The  second  rank  compre- 
hended those  who  were  of  the  grand  council  when  that  became 
perpetual  and  hereditary,  (1310.)  The  names  of  these  were 
inscribed  in  the  golden  volume,  and  the  names  of  their  descen- 
dants were  there  inscribed.  The  third  comprehended  those 
who  purchased  nobility  with  hereditary  rights,  at  the  price  of 
one  hundred  thousand  Venetian  ducats,  at  a  time  when  the 
government  was  in  great  need  of  money.  The  fourth  com- 
prehended counts  and  marquises,  who  enjoyed  no  political 
distinction,  and  were  not  employed  in  the  public  service.  The 
fifth  comprehended  all  other  persons,  variously  classed,  whose 
vocation  was  to  obey,  and  never  to  act,  or  speak,  or  think,  on 
public  affairs,  but  as  they  were  commanded. 

The  election  of  the  doge,  for  life,  was  a  singular  process. 
The  nobles  of  thirty  years  of  age  and  upwards,  of  the  first 
three  classes,  assembled  in  the  palace  of  St.  Mark.  As  many 
balls  as  there  were  persons  were  put  into  an  urn.  Thirty  of 
the  balls  were  gilt.  Those  who  drew  these  thirty  balls  retired 
to  another  chamber.  These  thirty  drew  from  another  urn  an 
equal  number  of  balls,  nine  of  which  were  gilt.  Those  who 
drew  the  gilt  balls  elected  forty.  The  forty,  by  a  like  process, 
reduced  their  number  to  twelve,  who  elected  twenty-five,  who 
were  reduced  to  nine.  The  nine  elected  forty-five,  who  were 
reduced,  by  lot,  to  eleven,  and  these  elected  forty-one,  who 
were  thus  made  electors  of  the  doge ;  twenty-five  concurrent 


VENICE. 


345 


votes  being  necessary  in  the  choice.  It  might  be  expected 
that  an  officer  so  cautiously  chosen,  must  be  entrusted  with 
high  authority ;  but  he  was  only  "  a  king  in  appearance  and 
external  parade ;  a  mere  senator  in  power,  a  prisoner  in  the 
city,  and  a  simple  citizen  out  of  it."  The  coin  bore  his  name, 
not  his  figure.  His  name  stood  first  in  letters  of  credence, 
but  he  neither  signed  nor  sealed.  He  could  not  open  des- 
patches addressed  to  him,  but  in  the  presence  of  his  counsel- 
lors. He  presided  in  all  councils,  but  could  decide  nothing, 
nor  do  more  than  make  proposals.  He  nominated  the  clergy, 
and  could  create  knights  of  St;  Mark.  He  only  was  not 
subject  to  sumptuary  laws.  No  one  of  his  relations  could  be 
appointed  to  any  office.  He  could  not  abdicate,  but  might  be 
deposed.  His  salary  was  two  thousand  ducats,  less  than  five 
thousand  dollars.  He  was  subject,  as  all  others  were,  to  the 
inquisition  of  the  Ten,  who  might  ransack  his  most  secret 
apartments.  Even  death  did  not  release  him  from  inquisition, 
for  then  his  acts  were  scrutinized,  and  his  heirs  might  be 
made  answerable.  Who  would  be  a  doge  of  Venice?  Any 
and  every  one,  as  elsewhere  in  the  world,  who  can  be  in  that 
eminence  which  only  one  can  have.  A  single  instance  oc- 
curs, in  centuries,  of  refusal  to  accept  the  office.  The  crown, 
the  mantle,  the  precedence,  were  there,  bereft  of  power  and 
perilous  as  the  office  was. 

The  history  of  this  singular  republic  turns  on  its  wars  and 
conquests,  and  on  its  enriching  commerce.  In  1202,  the  doge 
of  Venice  was  Enrigo  Dandolo,  an  eminent  statesman  and 
warrior.  A  crusade  was  undertaken  in  that  year  by  the 
Venetians,  French,  and  others,  against  Palestine.  Dandolo 
was  eighty-four  years  old  at  his  election,  and  lived  till  he  was 
ninety-seven.  A  numerous  army  was  embarked  in  flat-bot- 
tomed boats,  supported  by  a  powerful  fleet.  At  this  time, 
Isaac  Comnenus  had  been  driven  from  the  throne  of  Constan- 
tinople by  his  brother,  Alexius.  Alexius,  the  son  of  Isaac, 
applied  to  the  crusaders  to  aid  himself  and  his  father,  in 
recovering  the  throne.  The  promises  which  he  made,  operat- 
ing on  the  commercial  cupidity  of  the  Venetians,  and  other 
motives  arising  from  ancient  enmity,  and  the  hope  of  plunder 
on  the  part  of  the  French,  diverted  them  from  Palestine,  and 
made  Constantinople  the  object  of  their  enterprize.  Gibbon's 
sixtieth  chapter  contains  an  account  of  the  successful  attack  on 
this  splendid  city,  March,  1204. 

This  conquest  established  the  Latin  kingdom  at  Constanti- 
nople, of  which  Boudoin,  (Baldwin,)  count  of  Flanders,  was 


346  VENICE. 

the  first  king.  In  the  partition'of  the  spoils,  the  Venetians  had 
in  sovereignty,  a  portion,  Hallam  (Middle  Ages,)  says  three- 
eights,  Professor  Heeren,  (Essay  on  the  Crusades)  says  three- 
fourths  of  the  Roman  empire.  This  difference  ot  expression 
is  explained  by  Gibbon,  chap.  LX.  One  fourth  was  appropri- 
ated to  the  Royal  domain,  and  the  remaining  three-fourths  equal- 
ly divided  between  the  Venetians  and  Franks.  The  doge  was 
called  "  Lord  of  one  fourth  and  a  half  of  the  Roman  empire." 
[Meaning  one-fourth  and  one  half  of  one-fourth.]  They  se- 
lected a  part  of  the  capital,  the  shores  of  the  Hellespont  to  the 
Ionian  sea,  Morea,  or  ancient  Peloponnesus ;  Negropont,  Can- 
dia,  Corfu,  and  most  of  the  Greek  islands,  including  the  sev- 
en isles  since  known  as  the  Ionian  isles.  These  selections  were 
made  with  a  view  to  commerce,  and  necessarily  required  the 
establishment  of  a  colonial  system.  Before  this  time,  Venice 
had  acquired  very  important  commercial  privileges  in  the  Le- 
vant, that  is  on  the  coast  at  the  east  end  of  the  Mediterranean; 
and  also  in  Alexandria,  in  Egypt.  Their  ships  visited  the 
ports  of  Spain,  London,  and  ports  in  the  Netherlands.  They 
were  sovereigns,  also,  over  most  of  the  coast  on  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  Adriatic,  and  were,  at  this  time,  the  greatest  com- 
mercial people  of  the  world. 

The  republics  of  Genoa  and  Pisa  were  the  commercial  ri- 
vals of  Venice.  The  clashing  of  their  respective  interests  led 
to  the  most  obstinate  and  vindictive  wars,  in  which  many  naval 
battles  were  fought,  with  various  success.  That  one  of  these 
many  battles  which  is  specially  remarked  upon  by  historians, 
was  fought  on  the  13th  Feb.,  1352,  in  the  straits  of  the  Bos- 
phorus.  The  Venetian  fleet,  consisting  of  78  vessels,  of  their 
own  and  their  allies,  was  commanded  by  Nicolo  Pisani.  Pa- 
ganino  Doria  commanded  the  Genoese'  fleet,  consisting  of  64 
vessels.  In  the  midst  of  the  battle  a  violent  tempest  arose, 
which  continued  through  the  night,  as  did  the  conflict ;  but  in 
the  darkness  of  the  night  the  vessels  of  the  combatants  were 
intermingled.  The  loss  on  both  sides  was  ruinous,  and  neither 
were  able,  when  day  returned,  to  continue  the  contest.  In  the 
next  year  the  Genoese  were  defeated  with  immense  loss,  and  the 
like  fate  awaited  the  Venetians  in  the  following  year.  This 
warfare  continued,  with  few  intermissions,  till  1381,  when  both 
parties,  equally  exhausted,  concluded  a  peace. 

The  earliest  of  the  serious  misfortunes  of  Venice  may  be 
dated  from  its  ambition  to  become  possessors,  by  conquest,  of 
northern  Italy.  It  made  this  attempt  early  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, and  thus  became  involved  in  the  desolating  wars  of  that 


VENICE.  347 

country,  a  scene  of  continued  misery,  not  surpassed  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world.  Venice  was  warned  of  the  perils  which 
would  attend  this  enterprise.  The  doge  Mocenigo,  is  repre- 
sented to  have  said,  when  dying,  that  a  war  with  Milan  ought 
not  to  be  undertaken.  "  Through  peace,"  said  he,  "  our  city  has 
every  year,  ten  millions  of  ducats  employed  as  a  mercantile 
capital  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  with  an  annual  profit  of 
four  millions.  Our  housing,  7,000,000  of  ducats ;  annual  rent 
500,000.  Our  ships  are  3000;  our  gallies  43;  smaller  vessels, 
300;  sailors,  19,000.  Our  mint  has  coined  1,000,000  of  ducats 
within  the  year.  From  Milan  we  draw  annually  a  like  sum, 
in  coin;  900,000  in  cloths  ;  our  profit,  600,000.  You  may  be- 
come masters  of  all  the  gold  in  Christendom ;  but  war,  unjust 
war,  will  inevitably  lead  to  ruin.  You  have  men  of  probity 
and  experience ;  choose  one  of  them,  but  beware  of  Francesco 
Foscari.  If  he  is  doge,  you  will  soon  have  war;  and  war  will 
bring  poverty  and  loss  of  honor."  Yet,  Foscari  was  elected. 
War  was  undertaken  against  Milan,  and  with  the  disadvantage 
of  carrying  it  on  entirely  with  mercenary  troops.  No  Vene- 
tian ever  bore  the  title  of  general,  nor  were  Venetians  ever 
armed  as  soldiers. 

An  army  was  hired,  and  two  commissioners  were  delegated 
to  accompany  and  watch  over  it.  Their  special  duty  was  to 
exercise  their  vigilance  over  the  chiefs  of  the  army,  whom  their 
employers  always  distrusted. 

In  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  Venetians  con- 
quered and  held  several  duchies  and  territories  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Po,  and  northwardly  of  the  duchy  of  Mantua,  hav- 
ing their  most  westwardly  boundary  at  the  river  Adda.  The 
members  of  the  reigning  families,  whom  they  conquered,  they 
carried  to  Venice,  and  put  to  death,  as  the  most  certain  mode  of 
preventing  revolt,  and  attempts  to  reinstate  themselves.  It  is 
said,  however,  that  the  Venetians  were  lenient  masters,  and  that 
the  conquered  lost  nothing  by  the  change  of  sovereignty.  They 
were  severe  and  relentless  against  the  military  chiefs  in  their 
service,  when  not  victorious,  from  whatever  cause.  The  fate 
of  Carmagnola,  when  in  their  service,  has  been  mentioned  in 
notices  of  Milan.  These  conquests  were  achieved,  principally, 
between  the  years  1423,  and  1449,  while  Francesco  Foscari  was 
the  doge.  He  hoped  to  dismember  Milan,  and  even  to  extend 
the  banner  of  St.  Mark  over  the  whole  of  that  duchy;  and, 
therefore,  rejected  all  overtures  of  Milan  to  make  peace. 

Meanwhile,  the  Turks  had  found  their  way  into  Europe, 
and  were  threatening  the  territories  of  Venice  in  the  east.  The 


348  VENICE. 

Venetians  were  thus  compelled  to  forego  their  projects  of  am- 
bition in  northern  Italy,  to  defend  themselves;  peace  was  made 
with  Milan  in  September,  1449;  their  apprehensions  being 
quieted  as  to  the  Turks,  they  returned  again  to  the  warfare  with 
Milan.  Alliance  was  made  by  them,  with  Alphonso,  king 
of  Naples,  and  with  the  duke  of  Savoy.  But  in  May,  1453, 
the  Turks  having  taken  Constantinople,  all  Italy  felt  the  ne- 
cessity of  establishing  peace  among  themselves,  -to  be  able  to 
resist  a  common  enemy.  By  the  treaty  signed  at  Lodi,  in 
April,  1454,  the  cities  of  Bergamo  and  Brescia,  and  their  de- 
pendent territories,  were  secured  to  Venice.  Thus  the  Vene- 
tian domain,  from  the  Adriatic  to  the  river  Adda,  and  from  the 
Po  to  the  Alps,  (excepting  Mantua,)  was  established,  and  was 
known  as  the  terra  firma  of  Venice,  as  distinguished  from  the 
legunes,  or  marshes,  on  which  their  capital  was  situated.  But 
these  were  far  otherwise  than  fortunate  acquisitions.  Venice 
was  now  drawn  into  the  convulsive  and  afflictive  politics  of 
Italy;  and  was  destined  to  experience  a  full  share  in  the  mis- 
ery which  awaited  that  unfortunate  country. 

In  1454  the  Venetians  made  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Mahomet 
II.,  who  employed  himself  in  conquering  the  territories  which 
were  situated  between  Constantinople,  and  the  Venetian  pos- 
sessions on  the  east  side  of  the  Adriatic.  But  in  1463  the  war 
with  the  Turks  was  again  renewed.  An  attempt  was  made, 
in  vain,  by  the  pope  and  Venice,  to  unite  the  west  of  Europe 
in  a  crusade  against  the  Turks.  Venice  still  had  the  command 
of  the  sea,  and  was  able  to  annex  the  island  of  Cyprus  to  their 
dominions.  This  island  was  not  in  the  possession  of  the  Turks, 
but  of  the  family  of  Lusignan,  who  held  it  as  a  kingdom,  es- 
tablished by  Richard  I.,  of  England,  when  he  was  in  the  east. 
Meanwhile  the  Turks  despoiled  the  Venetians  of  their  territo- 
ries, and  even  threatened  to  pour  down  their  forces  on  the  ter- 
ra firma  of  Venice,  north  of  the  Po.  Venice  purchased  a 
costly  and  disgraceful  peace  of  the  Turks,  in  January,    1479. 

Notwithstanding  the  conflicts  which  Venice  had  to  sustain 
with  the  Turks,  it  had  acquired,  by  treachery  or  purchase,  sev- 
eral territories  in  Romagna,  which  extends  southwardly,  from 
near  the  southern  branch  of  the  Po,  along  the  north-eastern 
coast  of  Italy.  These  acquisitions  were,  in  part,  claimed  by 
the  pope,  and  are  now  within  the  estates  of  the  church. 

Before  the  end  of  this  century,  (as  will  be  elsewhere  noticed,) 
France,  Spain,  Germany,  and  the  Swiss,  had  made  Italy  the 
seat  of  their  warfare.  In  this,  Venice  was  involved.  But  it 
was  more  seriously  engaged  in  resisting  the  encroachments  of 


VENICE.  349 

the  Turkish  sultan,  Bajazel  II.,  who  had  renewed  the  war. 
In  the  pacification  of  1479  Venice  had  preserved  a  part  of  Dal- 
matia,  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Adriatic.  This  was  now  as- 
sailed. They  had  also  preserved  certain  commercial  privileges 
in  Constantinople.  But  now  all  the  Venetians  in  that  city- 
were  put  in  irons.  The  perils  of  this  war  detached  Venice 
from  the  warfare  in  Italy,  and  forced  on  her  the  defence  of  her- 
self, against  the  Turks,  during  seven  years.  They  still  pre- 
served a  part  of  their  territories  on  terra  firma. 

The  most  cruel  and  odious  warfare  was  now  raging  in  Italy 
between  the  French,  Germans,  Spaniards,  Swiss,  and  Italians, 
including  the  popes.  On  the  22d  Sept.  1504,  Louis  XII.,  of 
France,  and  Maximilian,  of  Germany,  made  a  treaty,  by  which 
they  agreed  to  divide  the  Venetian  territories  between  them. 
Meanwhile,  Venice  had  lost,  in  a  new  war  with  the  Turks, 
from  1499  to  1503,  all  its  possessions  on  the  east  coast  of  the 
Adriatic. 

The  contract  of  Louis  and  Maximilian,  in  1504,  was  more 
formally  recognized  in  a  new  treaty  of  the  10th  Dec.  1508,  in 
which  other  parties  joined.  This  treaty,  signed  at  Cambray, 
(on  the  Scheldt,  in  the  Netherlands,)  is  called  the  league  against 
Venice.  The  king  of  Spain,  and  the  pope,  as  well  as  the 
monarchs  of  France  and  Germany,  were  parties.  No  treaty 
was  ever  more  perfidious,  nor  was  any  ever  made  between  par- 
ties who  so  justly  distrusted,  or  more  thoroughly  detested  each 
other.  The  war  of  the  league  began  in  Jan.  1509.  Venice 
had  prepared  too  meet  it;  but  her  forces  were  defeated,  and 
the  cities  of  Brescia,  Bergamo,  Cremo,  and  Cremona,  near 
the  rivers  Adda  and  Oglio,  surrendered.  The  residue  of  its 
domains,  between  these  cities  and  the  Adriatic,  including  Ve- 
rona, Padua,  Vicenza,  were  attacked  by  the  allies.  Venice  re- 
leased her  subjects  there  from  their  allegiance,  and  left  them 
to  their  fate.  Every  misery  which  man  can  inflict  on  man 
was  experienced  by  these  people.  The  most  excruciating  tor- 
tures were  applied  to  extract  their  treasures,  and  every  thing 
dear  in  domestic  life  was  violated  with  a  barbarity  which  could 
characterize  only  the  spirit  of  demons.  Oppression  and  cru- 
elty drove  the  vanquished  subjects  of  Venice  to  unite  and  de- 
fend themselves,  and  they  again  displayed  the  banner  of  St. 
Mark.  They  gained  possession  of  Padua,  and  though  Maxi- 
milian besieged  them  there,  with  100,000  men,  and  100  pieces 
of  cannon,  he  was  compelled  to  retire. 

Pope  Julius  II,  terrified  by  the  ravages  of  these  barbarians, 
repented  of  having  joined  in  the  league,  and  resolved  to  detach 
30 


350  VENICE. 

the  Swiss,  and  to  call  to  his  aid  the  Spanish  forces,  then  in  pos- 
session of  Naples.  In  the  battles  which  ensued  between  these 
new  parties,  Gaston  de  Foix,  duke  of  Nemours,  then  only 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  distinguished  himself  at  the  head  of 
the  French.  In  an  attack  on  the  Spanish  infantry,  at  the  close 
of  the  bloodiest  battle  which  had  been  fought,  he  fell,  on  the 
12th  of  April,  1512.  His  fall,  the  acquisition  (through  the 
pope)  of  Henry  VIII.,  of  England,  and  Ferdinand  of  Aragon, 
as  enemies  to  France,  and  the  perfidy  of  Maximilian,  over- 
threw the  French,  and  drove  them  from  Italy.  Venice  made 
peace  with  France,  but  not  with  Maximilian.  The  German 
troops  still  desolated  the  territories  of  terra  firma.  But  on  the 
14th  Dec.  1516,  peace  put  the  Venetians  in  possession  of  all 
the  territories  they  had  lost  in  consequence  of  the  execution  of 
the  treaty  signed  at  Cambray,  (1508.)  The  wealth  of  Venice 
was  annihilated,  and  one  half  of  her  population  was  destroyed. 
Thus  truly  had  been  verified  the  dying  prophecy  of  the  doge 
Mocenigo.  About  the  same  time  a  total  change  in  the  routes 
of  commerce,  by  the  discovery  of  America,  and  the  maritime 
course  around  Africa  to  the  east,  settled  the  fate  of  Venice. 
From  this  time  Venice  declined,  notwithstanding  all  her  ef- 
forts to  defeat  the  Portuguese  in  their  commercial  enterprizes 
in  the  east ;  and  to  recover  her  own  superiority.  During  the 
last  three  centuries  Venice  does  not  appear  conspicuously,  in 
the  history  of  nations ;  but  it  preserved  its  independence  till 
1796,  when  it  was  overcome  by  Napoleon.  Throughout  twelve 
centuries  Venice  was,  at  no  time,  a  conquered  city.  In  the 
survey  of  the  three  last  centuries,  the  remaining  fortunes  of 
this  singular  republic  will  be  noticed. 


CHAPTER  LIII. 

Bologna — Ferrara —  Genoa — Pisa. 

From  Pavia  to  the  Adriatic  sea,  in  a  course  directly  east,  is 
about  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  miles.  The  river  Po  flows 
nearly  in  the  same  course,  from  Pavia  to  that  sea.  South  of 
the  Po,  and  at  the  distance  of  about  fifty  miles,  are  the  Appe- 
nines.  Between  the  Appenines  and  the  Po  are  the  territories 
of  Parma,  Modena,  Bologna,  and  Ferrara,  in  succession  from 
west  to  east.     South  of  Ferrara  and  extending  along  the  coast 


BOLOGNA.  351 

of  the  Adriatic  fifty  miles,  was  Romagna,  now  called  the 
estates  of  the  church.  In  Romagna,  on  the  coast  of  the  Adri- 
atic, or  near  it,  was  Ravenna,  the  seat  of  empire  of  the  Goth, 
Theodoric.  It  was  formerly  on  a  bay  of  that  sea,  but  is  now 
three  miles  from  the  sea.  These  several  territories  formed 
republics  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  continued  to  be  governed 
as  such  for  a  long  time,  like  the  states  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Po;  and  like  them,  experienced  a  series  of  violent  revolutions 
in  the  conflicts  between  the  two  parties,  the  Guelfs  and  the 
Ghibelines.  They  had,  also,  the  afflictions  which  arose  from 
the  attempts  of  distinguished  families  to  acquire  an  exclusive 
government,  and  the  popular  resistance  of  these  attempts.  The 
circumstances  of  these  revolutions  are  not  of  sufficient  impor- 
tance to  be  described ;  most  of  them  are  involved  in  the  historic- 
al facts  of  Milan,  whose  chiefs  were  able  to  hold  most  of  these 
portions  of  Italy  for  a  long  time  in  subjection.  There  are 
some  facts  in  the  history  of  some  of  these  territories  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Po,  which  require  a  short  notice. 

The  city  of  Bologna,  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles 
east  by  south  from  Pavia,  and  about  fifty-five  miles  north  of 
Florence,  is  situated  near  the  foot  of  the  north  side  of  the 
Appenines,  and  is  an  ancient  and  celebrated  city.  Its  form 
being  oblong,  and  having  a  tower  called  Asinelli,  three  hun- 
dred and  seven  feet  high,  it  has  been  compared  to  a  ship.  Its 
public  edifices  are  magnificent.  It  had,  next  after  Rome,  the 
finest  collection  of  paintings  in  Italy.  It  is  supposed  to  have 
been  the  first  Italian,  perhaps  the  first  European  city,  in  which 
a  university  was  founded.  About  the  year  1113,  the  celebrated 
Irnerius  was  a  professor  of  the  civil  law  at  this  university, 
and  the  number  of  students  from  various  parts  of  Europe,  are 
computed,  by  some  writers,  at  ten  thousand,  and  by  others  at 
fifteen  thousand.  This  city  enjoyed,  about  this  time,  a  high 
celebrity  for  its  learned  men,  and  has  not  yet  lost  all  claims  to 
such  distinction.  The  civil  law  was  designed  by  its  patron 
Justinian,  to  inculcate  submission  to  imperial  authority,  and 
the  students  in  this  law  in  other  cities,  as  well  as  at  Bologna, 
are  supposed  to  have  acquired  opinions  unfavorable  to  popular 
liberty.  But  the  form  of  a  republic  was  preserved  here,  under 
various  changes  and  revolutions,  till  after  the  fifteenth  century, 
and  as  long  as  in  any  of  the  Italian  republics.  The  history 
of  Bologna  is,  like  many  other  cities  further  south,  so  much 
connected  with  that  of  Florence,  that  further  remarks  on  it 
will  be  referred  to  those  which  are  to  be  made  on  the  Floren- 
tine republic. 


352  FERRARA. 

The  city  of  Ferrara,  with  its  surrounding  territory,  in  the 
ninth  century  was  under  the  government  of  the  celebrated 
family  of  Este,  in  the  character  of  vicars,  or  viceroys  of  the 
emperors  of  Germany.  Ferrara  is  situated  on  the  north  side 
of  one  of  the  southern  branches  of  the  Po,  in  a  low  plain. 
While  the  dukes  of  Este  reigned  there,  from  before  the  year 
1000,  to  nearly  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  it  was  distin- 
guished among  the  cities  of  Italy  for  its  comparative  elegance 
and  refinement.  It  is  now  one  of  the  most  forsaken  and  de- 
cayed. Ariosto  (died  in  1533)  was  buried  here.  Tasso 
was  confined  here  as  an  idiot,  or  maniac,  for  seven  years,  about 
1580—90.  (Died  at  Rome,  1595.)  The  Adriatic  shore  is 
about  forty-five  miles  east,  and  Bologna  is  about  twenty-two 
miles  nearly  south-west  from  Ferrara.  The  three  duchies  of 
Mirandola,  Modena,  and  Reggio,  were  annexed  to  the  sove- 
reignty of  Ferrara,  and  so  held  for  several  centuries — Bologna 
and  its  territories  being  south  of  Ferrara,  and  east  of  Modena. 
The  dukes  of  Ferrara  were  among  the  leaders  of  the  Guelf 
party.  One  of  these,  Guelfo  IV.,  was  invested  with  the  duchy 
of  Bavaria,  and  was  the  founder  of  the  house  of  Brunswick, 
from  which  the  royal  family  of  England  derive  their  descent. 

From  1000  to  1500,  the  dukes  and  people  of  Ferrara  were 
less  involved  in  the  revolutions  and  miseries  of  Italy,  than 
other  of  its  inhabitants.  Some  of  these  dukes  were  patrons  of 
science  and  of  learned  men ;  and  though  violence,  tyranny  and 
crimes  were  not  rare  in  the  political  events  of  this  city,  perhaps 
Ferrara  may  be  selected  as  that  part  of  Italy  which  suffered 
less  than  any  other,  during  these  five  centuries.  So  far  as  it 
is  material  to  notice  the  political  scenes  of  Ferrara,  they  are 
connected  with  those  of  Florence,  as  are  those  of  all  the  re- 
publics which  surrounded  that  city. 

We  have  now  to  pass  over  the  Appenines,  and  consider  the 
republics  on  the  south  side  of  them,  and  along  the  coast  of  the 
Tuscan  sea.  With  the  exception  of  Genoa,  all  of  them  are  so 
intimately  connected  with  Florentine  events,  that  they  will  be 
most  easily  understood  in  treating  of  that  celebrated  republic. 

The  republic  of  Genoa  is  situated  along  the  northern  shore 
of  the  Tuscan  sea,  in  length  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles,  in  breadth  from  eight  to  twenty.  Not  far  from  the 
centre  of  the  territory  is  the  city  of  Genoa,  which  has  been 
called  "the  magnificent,"  and  " the  proud."  Situated  on  the 
shore,  and  on  the  hills  which  soon  rise  from  the  shore,  it  pre- 
sents a  grand  appearance  from  the  sea.  It  is  forty-six  miles 
south  of  Pa  via,  sixty-three  miles  south  of  Milan. 


GENOA    AND    PISA.  353 

When  the  German  power  in  Italy  was  overthrown,  with 
the  Carlovingian  race,  in  the  tenth  century,  Genoa  became  a 
republic,  and  is  first  heard  of  in  the  wars  with  the  Saracens 
who  had  possessed  themselves  of  the  islands  in  the  Mediterra- 
nean. Afterwards,  in  the  twelfth  century,  Genoa  appears  in 
the  crusades,  and  conspicuously  in  the  commerce  of  the  East. 
In  the  next  century,  Genoa  had  conquered  the  island  of 
Corsica. 

The  city  of  Pisa,  situated  on  the  river  Arno,  near  the  sea, 
about  one  hundred  miles  eastwardly  (from  Genoa,)  was  the 
commercial  rival  of  Genoa.  The  two  republics  had  been 
frequently  at  war.  In  1282  a  new  war  commenced.  Aston- 
ishment is  expressed,  by  several  historians,  at  the  number  of 
vessels  of  war  which  these  two  small  republics  could  send 
forth.  They  account  for  it  by  assuming  that  nearly  all  the 
male  population  were  mariners.  In  August^  1284,  Pisa  was 
vanquished  with  great  loss  and  slaughter,  in  a  battle  wherein 
both  republics  exerted  all  their  strength. 

In  this  battle  of  Meliora,  (1282,)  fought  near  the  coast,  and 
within  a  few  miles  of  Pisa,  the  Genoese  were  so  completely 
victors,  that  besides  the  slain,  eleven  thousand  of  the  Pisans 
were  carried  prisoners  to  Genoa,  and  refused  to  be  liberated 
on  the  terms  which  Genoa  prescribed.  They  languished  in 
prison  many  years,  and  a  very  small  number  of  them  survived 
their  captivity.  Pisa  lost  her  commercial  distinction  by  this 
event,  and  never  appeared  afterwards  on  the  ocean  as  a  mari- 
time power.  This  city  always  ranked  as  Ghibeline.  How 
far  this  rank  was  caused  by  rivalry  with  Florence,  always 
Guelf,  and  how  far  by  principle,  is,  at  least,  doubtful. 

There  remain,  to  the  present  day,  noble  monuments  of  the 
commercial  grandeur  of  Pisa.  She  was  the  first  who  intro- 
duced into  Tuscany  the  arts  which  nourish  only  where  there 
is  a  liberal  use  of  wealth.  Within  one  and  the  same  view, 
may  yet  be  seen  her  dome,  her  baptistry,  her  leaning  tower, 
her  campo  santo,  structures  which  have  rarely  been  surpassed 
in  subsequent  times,  though  erected  between  the  middle  of  the 
eleventh,  and  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  name  of 
Nicolas  de  Pisa  is  associated  with  these  monuments.  The 
great  architects  who  adorned  Italy,  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
were  all  of  the  school  of  Nicolas. 

The  future  destinies  of  Pisa  were  all  unfortunate.     Driven 

from  the  ocean,  in  a  great  measure,  and  intermingling  in  the 

political  turmoils  on  the  land,  she  was  a  sufferer  from  all 

parties,  and  especially  from  Florence,  whose  natural  road  to 

30* 


354  VENICE    AND    GENOA. 

the  ocean  was  through  the  Pisan  territory.  No  city  in  Italy 
suffered  more,  nor  so  long,  without  the  power  to  find  a  remedy. 
Her  noble  spirit  was  the  last  of  her  possessions  to  be  subdued. 

Genoa  was  the  commercial  rival  also  of  Venice.  The  fleets 
of  these  two  republics  often  encountered  each  other  in  the 
East,  and  it  was  easy  for  rivalry  to  ripen  into  enmity.  Genoa 
was  dissatisfied  that  Venice  had  gained  a  superiority  in  the 
conquest  of  Constantinople,  and  in  the  establishment  of  the 
Latin  kingdom  in  that  city.  It  was,  therefore,  well  disposed 
to  aid  the  Greeks  in  recovering  Constantinople.  In  1261,  the 
claimant  of  the  Greek  throne,  Palceologus,  was  successfully 
aided  by  the  Genoese  in  recovering  it,  and  they  were  reward- 
ed by  an  assignment  of  the  territory  called  Para,  opposite  the 
north-eastern  side  of  the  city,  across  the  harbor.  Here  the 
Genoese  strengthened  themselves  by  fortifications,  and  extend- 
ed their  commerce  into  the  Black  sea.  Around  its  shores 
they  had  several  settlements,  and  enjoyed  an  enriching  traffic 
in  corn,  and  in  a  preparation  of  the  sturgeon,  called  caviar. 
Their  principal  port  was  at  Caffa,  in  the  Crimea,  where  four 
hundred  vessels  have  been  seen  in  forty  days,  employed  in 
the  corn  and  fish  trade.  They  received  through  the  Black 
sea,  by  the  way  of  the  Caspian,  the  pioducts  of  the  East. 

In  a  war  between  Venice  and  Genoa,  (1293,)  the  latter  is 
said  to  have  had  (Hallam  1,  p.  250)  one  hundred  and  fifty-five 
gallies,  manned  with  from  two  hundred  and  twenty  to  three  hun- 
dred men  each,  making  nearly  forty  thousand  men.  But  this 
was  an  unusual  armament.  The  Venetian  and  Genoese  fleets 
did  not  usually  exceed  half  that  number.  This  warfare  was 
continued,  with  little  intermission,  throughout  the  fourteenth 
century.  Some  of  the  battles  were,  probably,  as  well  fought 
on  both  sides,  as  any  recorded  in  history.  About  1378,  Venice 
was  in  so  much  peril  from  an  attack  of  the  Genoese,  that  the 
Venetians  resolved  to  abandon  their  city,  and  establish  them- 
selves on  the  island  of  Cyprus.  An  unexpected  arrival  of  one 
of  their  fleets  from  the  East,  tamed  the  tide  of  events  in  favor 
of  the  Venetians,  and  the  Genoese  were  compelled  to  retire 
with  great  loss.  Doria,  on  the  part  of  the  Genoese,  and 
Pisani,  on  the  part  of  Venice,  appear  to  have  been  the  most 
celebrated  among  the  naval  commanders.  In  1379,  both  par- 
ties, exhausted  by  the  profitless  contention,  accepted  a  media- 
tion, and  made  peace.  After  this  century,  the  commercial 
grandeur  of  Genoa  declined,  but  rather  from  the  furious  and 
implacable  factions  which  arose  among  its  citizens,  than  from 
any  other  cause.    In  Genoa,  as  in  so  many  other  Italian  cities, 


GENOA.  355 

the  principal  cause  of  internal  misery  (until  Italy  became  the 
theatre  of  war  of  France,  Germany,  Spain,  and  the  Swiss)  was 
the  rivalry  and  craving  among  noble  families.  The  four  most 
eminent  families  in  Genoa  were  the  Grimaldi,  the  Fieschi,  the 
Doria,  and  the  Spinola ;  the  two  former  Guelfs,  the  two  latter 
Ghibelines.  These  factions  were  alternately  successful,  and 
the  triumphant  party  always  caused  the  destruction  or  flight 
of  the  other.  The  assistance  of  neighboring  powers  was 
called  in.  In  1318,  the  Ghibelines  being  driven  out,  the 
Guelfs,  to  prevent  their  return  with  such  allies  as  they  might 
find,  actually  surrendered  Genoa  to  the  sovereignty  of  Robert, 
king  of  Naples.  These  contentions,  long  continued,  ended,  as 
most  civil  wars  have  done,  not  in  securing  liberty,  but  in 
losing  it.  In  1339,  a  duke  or  doge  was  chosen  by  acclamation 
of  the  people.  But  this  change  was  of  short  duration  ;  and  the 
vibration  was  again  towards  a  more  popular,  and  also  a  more 
turbulent  rule.  It  would  be  as  tedious  as  unprofitable,  to  follow 
out  the  many  changes  which  the  rivalries  in  this  city  occasion- 
ed ;  many  of  them  attended  with  violence  and  bloodshed.  As 
a  final  refuge,  the  republic  was  placed,  in  the  year  1396,  under 
the  protection  of  Charles  VI.,  king  of  France,  and  a  French 
garrison  admitted  within  the  walls. 

The  Genoese  maintained  their  possessions  in  the  suburbs  of 
Constantinople,  until  sometime  after  the  Turks,  in  1453,  pos- 
sessed themselves  of  that  city.  Soon  after,  they  were  objects 
of  jealousy  to  the  new  sovereigns,  and  were  despoiled  of  their 
commercial  establishments  within  the  Black  sea,  and  on  the 
Bosphorus.  The  irreconcilable  factions  of  Genoa,  compelled 
its  citizens  again  to  invite  a  foreign  master,  in  the  duke  of 
Milan.  The  history  of  these  factions  is  narrated  by  Sismondi 
in  full  detail,  but  they  show  no  more  than  the  like  scenes 
which  were  passing  about  the  same  time,  in  other  cities  of 
Italy,  of  which  some  notice  has  been  already  taken,  and  which 
must  be  again  noticed  in  the  history  of  Florence.  Genoa 
needed  that  terrible  tranquillizing  power  which  resided  in  the 
despotism  of  the  council  of  Ten,  at  Venice  ;  and  having  none 
such,  it  was  continually  agitated  by  violent  revolutions,  some- 
times from  the  conflicts  of  the  nobles,  and  sometimes  from  the 
conflicts  of  the  citizens  and  nobles.  No  city  seems  to  have 
understood  less  than  Genoa,  the  means  of  balancing  its  factions, 
or  of  establishing  an  authority  which  could  keep  them  in  sub- 
jection. Towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  this  repub- 
lic had  lost  its  commercial  importance,  and,  like  Venice,  became 
comparatively  insignificant. 


356 


GENOA. 


The  power  and  the  grandeur  of  Genoa  depended  entirely 
on  its  commerce.  Its  warfare  was  on  the  ocean.  It  maintain- 
ed no  military  force  on  shore,  composed  of  its  own  citizens. 
When  compelled  to  engage  in  conflicts  on  the  land,  it  depend- 
ed on  hired  auxiliaries.  It  consequently  had  to  encounter  the 
disasters  which  ever  befall  those  republics  whose  citizens  know 
not  how  to  protect  and  defend  themselves.  The  Genoese 
merchants  imported  from  Egypt,  and  from  the  Levant,  and 
from  the  Black  sea,  great  quantities  of  costly  merchandise,  and 
sent  them,  in  their  own  vessels,  throughout  the  western  ports 
of  the  Mediterranean,  and  around  Spain  into  the  ports  of  the 
North  sea.  They  established  banking  houses  in  many  of  the 
cities  of  western  Europe,  from  which  they  derived  great  profits. 
This  people  were  also  furnished  with  articles  of  commerce  of 
domestic  origin.  Its  territories  were  fertile  and  well  cultivated, 
and  there  were  some  enriching  manufactures,  especially  in 
the  article  of  silk.  With  all  its  advantages,  no  one  of  the  cities 
of  Italy  less  understood  the  means  of  preserving  the  rights  of 
person  and  property. 

Near  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  Genoa  had  again 
sought  a  respite  from  its  internal  commotions,  by  a  surrender 
of  itself  to  the  duke  of  Milan,  who  assumed  the  absolute  sove- 
reignty. But  Louis  XII.  of  France,  who  claimed  to  be  the 
duke  of  Milan,  (as  elsewhere  mentioned,)  had  driven  out  the 
reigning  family  (Sforza)  from  Milan,  and  claimed  Genoa  as 
an  appendage  to  that  duchy.  Genoa  entered  into  a  capitula- 
tion with  Louis,  and  he  assumed  the  sovereignty.  Every 
stipulation  made  .by  him  was  violated,  and  the  Genoese  re- 
volted. Early  in  1507,  Louis  entered  Italy  with  an  army 
which  Genoa  could  not  resist,  and  the  Genoese  nobles  taking 
part  with  him,  he  was  enabled  to  enter  the  city  as  conqueror, 
on  the  29th  of  April,  in  that  year.  The  first  exercise  of  his 
power  was  to  send  the  doge  and  the  most  distinguished  citi- 
zens, who  had  vainly  attempted  to  defend  their  country,  to  the 
scaffold. 


FLORENCE.  357 

CHAPTER  LIV. 

Middle  Italy —  Tuscany— Republic  of  Florence  from  1000  to  1500. 

The  Apennine  mountains  run,  from  the  southern  end  of  the 
Alps,  (where  they  separate  France  and  Italy,)  eastwardly,  and 
take  a  circuitous  course  around  the  northern  end  of  the  Tus- 
can Sea,  till  they  come  midway  of  the  peninsula,  where  that 
joins  northern  Italy.  Thence  the  course  of  these  mountains 
is  south-eastwardly  through  the  peninsula.  Soon  after  the 
mountains  turn  to  the  south-east,  they  furnish  the  sources  of 
the  river  Arno,  which  flows  south-west  through  the  beautiful 
valley  to  which  that  river  gives  its  name,  and  empties  into  the 
Tuscan  Sea.  The  part  of  Italy  called  Tuscany  is  situated 
between  the  mountains  and  the  sea.  Its  ancient  name  was 
Etruria.  It  extends  from  the  Genoese  territory  along  the 
coast,  south-eastwardly,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles, 
to  the  states  of  the  church.  The  breadth  between  the  sea  and 
the  mountains  may  be  seventy  or  eighty  miles.  The  moun- 
tains form  its  northern  and  north-eastern  boundary. 

In  the  year  1000,  Tuscany  contained  many  independent 
republics.  The  principal  ones  were  Florence,  Pisa,  Lucca, 
Sienna,  Perugia.  Relative  positions  will  be  computed  from 
Florence.  This  city  is  in  43°  47'  north  latitude,  and  11°  15' 
east,  longitude.  On  the  south-west  of  the  Apennines,  in  the 
valley  of  the  Arno,  the  river  divides  Florence  into  two  parts,  at 
the  distance  of  fifty-five  miles  from  the  Tuscan  Sea.  From 
this  city,  Bologna  (over  the  mountains)  is  about  sixty  miles 
distant,  north  by  east.  Ferrara  is  thirty  miles  north-east  from 
Bologna.  Ravenna  is  sixty-five  miles  north-east  from  Flor- 
ence;  Ancona,  one  hundred  and  fifteen  east  by  south  on  the 
Adriatic ;  Rome,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  south- 
south-east,  and  Sienna  thirty-five  miles,  nearly  in  the  same 
direction.  Between  Sienna  and  Rome  there  were  numerous 
republics.  The  cities  situated  westwardly  of  Florence,  and 
between  it  and  the  Tuscan  Sea,  were  Pistoia,  distant  twenty 
miles  west  by  north ;  Lucca,  forty-eight  miles,  nearly  west ; 
Pisa,  fifty  miles,  nearly  west ;  Lucca  is  ten  miles  northwardly 
of  Pisa,  on  a  small  river,  and  thirteen  miles  from  the  sea ; 
Pisa  is  five  miles  from  the  sea  on  the  river  Arno.  Spoletto  is 
forty  miles  north  of  Rome,  and  Naples  about  one  hundred  and 
ten  south-east  from  it. 


358  FLORENCE. 

Florence  was  founded  in  the  first  century.  It  is  mentioned 
by  Tacitus  under  the  name  of  Florentia.  It  was  destroyed  by 
the  barbarians  ;  re-appeared  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  and 
became  a  republic  about  the  end  of  the  tenth  century,  when 
his  race  lost  dominion  in  Italy.  All  Italy  was,  at  this  time, 
divided  into  the  two  parties,  Guelfs  and  Ghibelines,  which 
had  already  forgotten  the  origin  of  these  names,  and  used 
them  only  as  names  of  habitual  and  hereditary  hostility.  The 
Ghibelines,  however,  are  found  to  have  arranged  themselves, 
usually,  on  the  side  of  the  emperors,  whenever  there  was  a 
conflict  between  them  and  the  church.  The  Guelfs  are  found 
to  have  taken  part  with  the  popes,  and  are  considered,  by  some 
writers,  to  have  been  the  supporters  of  popular  liberty.  Yet, 
they  do  not  appear  to  have  been  less  inclined  to  use  power 
tyrannically,  whenever  they  obtained  it,  than  their  adversaries. 
Both  parties  were  composed  of  noble  families,  and  their  hos- 
tility may  well  be  accounted  for  without  assuming  that  the 
Ghibelines  were  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  arbitrary  pow- 
er, and  the  Guelfs  to  the  maintenance  of  liberty.  The  adher- 
ence of  the  Guelfs  to  the  popes  is  not  an  indication  that  civil 
liberty  was  the  object  of  their  party. 

When  Florence  begins  to  be  the  subject  of  historical  notice, 
about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  it  was  a  turbulent 
republic,  in  which  the  Guelfs  and  the  Ghibelines  were  in  con- 
tinual conflict.  Slight  dissensions,  of  frequent  occurrence, 
were  sufficient  to  bring  both  these  parties  into  violent  action, 
in  which  mere  physical  strength  was  the  only  arbiter.  In 
1215,  a  nobleman  of  the  Guelf  party,  named  Buondelmonte, 
had  engaged  himself  to  a  lady  of  the  Ghibeline  party,  of  the 
house  of  Amidei.  The  marriage-day  was  appointed.  Buon- 
delmonte was  passing  the  house  of  a  noble  Guelf  lady,  named 
Donati,  who  invited  him  to  come  in.  He  was  conducted  to 
an  apartment  in  which  the  daughter  of  this  lady  was  presented 
to  him  ;  and  the  mother  reproached  him  with  the  intention  of 
taking  a  wife  from  among  the  enemies  of  the  Guelfs  and  the 
church.  The  suddenly  enamored  visiter  immediately  renounc- 
ed the  Ghibeline  lady,  and  sought  and  obtained  the  lady  of  his 
own  party.  Such  an  incident  was  sufficient  to  arm  both  par- 
ties, and  to  cause  the  resolution  among  the  Ghibelines  that 
Buondelmonte  should  be  put  to  death.  He  was  assassinated 
in  the  streets,  in  open  day,  and  a  civil  war  raged  in  Florence, 
from  this  cause,  during  thirty-three  years.  This  incident 
sufficiently  explains  the  true  meaning  of  the  terms  Guelf  and 
Ghibeline,  and  that  they  were  like  other  party  names,  in  every 


FLORENCE.  359 

age,  distinctive  appellations  for  enmities  incident  to  human 
society. 

The  people  of  Florence  acquired  a  commanding  influence 
in  the  affairs  of  Italy,  far  more  so  than  their  numbers,  or  the 
extent  of  their  territory,  or  their  military  power,  would  enable 
them  to  acquire.  Sismondi  finds,  in  the  peculiar  character  of 
this  people,  the  source  of  this  influence.  They  were  intelli- 
gent, active,  devoted  to  liberty,  and  resolved  to  preserve  it, 
though  they  were  not  agreed  in  the  means  of  accomplishing 
their  object.  Their  government  was  a  popular  one,  and  liable 
to  sudden  and  violent  commotions.  In  the  year  1282,  Flor- 
ence had  attained  to  eminence  as  a  manufacturing  and  com- 
mercial community.  Its  government  was  conducted  by  a 
numerous  council,  and  by  fourteen  officers,  (prudent-men,)  of 
whom  eight  were  Guelfs,  and  six  Ghibelines.  This  govern- 
ment was  found  incompetent  to  keep  the  city  tranquil,  and 
was,  in  itself,  a  prolific  cause  of  contention  from  the  irrecon- 
cileable  views  of  the  individuals  by  whom  it  was  conducted. 
In  this  year,  (1282,)  a  new  form  of  government  was  instituted, 
entirely  democratic.  The  manufacturing  and  mercantile  citi- 
zens were  divided  into  six  classes,  and  each  one  elected  two 
priors,  from  six  different  quarters  of  the  city.  Six  of  these 
priors  exercised  the  executive  power,  and  represented  the  state 
for  two  months;  and,  during  this  time,  they  were  compelled 
to  dwell  together  in  the  same  palace,  and,  on  no  account,  to  be 
absent  from  it,  by  day  or  night.  At  the  end  of  these  two 
months  they  were  not  again  eligible  for  two  years.  The  suc- 
cessive executive  priors  were  elected  by  their  predecessors. 
All  nobles  and  gentlemen  were  excluded  from  any  share  in 
the  government.  Thus  was  formed  a  strictly  popular  authori- 
ty, renewed  at  the  end  of  every  sixty  days.  To  enable  this 
authority  to  execute  its  decrees,  an  officer  was  chosen  called 
gonfalonier,  or  standard-bearer,  who  was  required  to  reside  in 
the  palace.  Each  of  the  six  classes  of  citizens  had  military 
companies,  and  when  the  gonfalonier  displayed  his  standard 
from  the  palace  window,  these  companies  were  held  to  repair 
to  the  palace,  and  place  themselves  under  his  command.  A 
similar  form  of  government,  from  this  example,  was  established 
in  several  of  the  Italian  republics. 

The  nobles  being  thus  excluded  from  all  share  in  the  gov- 
ernment, combined  and  exercised,  by  force  of  arms,  a  power 
which  often  intimidated  the  magistrates  and  defeated  their  pur- 
poses. One  of  these  nobles,  Giano  della  Bella,  renounced  his 
privileges,  and  made  himself  one  of  the  people,  and  became  a 


360  FLORENCE.  \ 

popular  leader.  At  his  suggestion,  several  noble  families 
were  excluded  from  all  rights  of  citizenship.  He  thus  made 
himself  an  object  of  hatred  among  the  persecuted.  He  so 
conducted  himself  as  to  become  suspected  by  the  people,  and 
united  both  nobles  and  people  against  him.  Within  two  years 
he  was  banished  from  the  city.  The  Florentine  government 
soon  after  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  rich  and  most  powerful 
citizens,  though  the  form,  as  established  in  1282,  was  preserv- 
ed. It  is  very  obvious,  that  a  government  so  composed,  and 
intended  for  the  preservation  of  the  rights  of  property  and 
person,  and  the  public  security,  in  such  a  community,  must 
have  been  irregular  and  turbulent,  and  rarely  free  from  com- 
motion. 

About  the  year  1300,  a  series  of  events  began  wherein 
Florence  and  the  neighboring  republic  of  Pistoia  were  first 
involved,  and  afterwards  several  other  governments.  These 
events  deserve  a  particular  noticg,  because  they  show  what 
the  practical  effect  of  these  popular  governments  was  ;  and 
for  another  reason,  they  disclose  the  nature  of  Italian  society, 
in  this  age,  and  show  ywhat  were  the  objects  of  desire  and 
aversion,  and  how  human  passions  sought  gratification. 

There  was  at  Florence,  at  this  time,  (1300,)  a  noble  family 
named  Donati.  The  principal  member  of  this  family  had 
been  distinguished  in  causing  the  banishment  or  death  of 
Giano  della  Bella.  This  Donati  exercised  a  powerful  influ- 
ence in  the  affairs  of  the  city.  A  family  of  humble  origin, 
named  Cherchi,  had  become  rich  by  commerce,  and  had 
purchased  a  palace  near  to  that  of  the  Donati  family.  Riches 
being  the  only  claim  of  the  Cherchi  to  distinction,  they  sought, 
by  the  splendor  of  their  display,  to  cast  the  Donati  into  the 
shade.  They  endeavored,  also,  to  attach  to  their  interests 
such  poor,  "but  noble  families,  as  could  be  won  by  their  munifi- 
cent favors.  The  hostility  thus  engendered  was  of  a  nature 
to  grow  stronger  by  time,  and  to  attract  partisans  on  both 
sides.  This  hostility,  like  all  other  excitements,  brought  into 
its  train,  on  the  one  side  and  the  other,  the  imperishable  feud 
of  the  Guelfs  and  the  Ghibelines.  A  similar  state  of  feeling 
and  of  action  may  be  found  in  almost  any  community  or  age, 
with  no  other  difference  than  as  to  the  objects,  and  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  human  propensities  manifest  themselves. 

While  Florence  was  in  this  excited  state,  its  attention  was 
drawn  towards  the  republic  of  Pistoia.  This  republic,  con- 
sisting of  a  city,  (and  surrounding  territory,)  is  distant  nearly 
north-west  from  Florence,  about  twenty  miles,  on  a  plain,  lying 


FLORENCE.  361 

near  the  foot  of  the  south  side  of  the  Apennines.  The  noble 
family  of  Cancellieri,  of  Pistoia,  were  of  the  Guelf  party,  and 
were  numerous  and  rich.  They  numbered  one  hundred  of 
their  name,  who  bore  arms.  Several  of  this  family  had  as- 
sembled at  a  tavern  for  social  and  festive  intercourse.  Two 
young  men  were  present ;  they  were  descended  from  a  common 
paternal  ancestor,  who  had  been  twice  married.  Those  of  the 
first  marriage  were  called,  from  the  name  of  their  mother, 
Bianci  (or  white)  Cancellieri.  Those  of  the  second  marriage, 
to  distinguish  them  from  the  others,  were  called  the  Neri 
(black)  Cancellieri.  Under  the  excitement  of  wine,  a  quarrel 
arose  between  these  young  men,  Carlino  of  the  white  branch, 
and  Dore  of  the  black  branch.  Sismondi  remarks,  that  Pis- 
toia was  the  most  turbulent,  vindictive,  excitable,  and  blood- 
thirsty community  in  all  Italy.  It  was  a  principle  of  action 
among  its  nobles,  that  when  an  insult  had  been  given,  (worse 
than  among  American  savages,)  the  vengeance  was  not  to  fall 
on  the  offender,  but  on  the  most  distinguished  of  his  family, 
though  no  party  to  the  insult,  and  though  entirely  ignorant  of 
it.  Dore  (the  black)  was  the  person  who  considered  himself 
offended  by  Carlino,  (the  white.)  On  leaving  the  tavern  he 
encountered  Vanni  of  the  white  branch,  and  who  was  ignorant 
of  the  quarrel,  and  wounded  him  in  the  hand  and  on  the  face. 
The  father  of  Dore  surrendered  him  to  the  father  of  Vanni, 
in  the  hope  that  the  quarrel  might  be  terminated  by  this  con- 
fiding act.  But  the  father  of  Vanni  caused  Dore's  hand  to  be 
chopped  off  with  an  axe,  and  sent  him  back  to  tell  his  father 
that  such  wounds  might  be  cured  with  iron,  but  not  by  words. 
A  ferocious  war  ensued,  in  which  all  the  nobles  and  princi- 
pal persons  of  Pistoia  and  its  territories  were  involved.  The 
names  of  Guelf  and  Ghibeline  were  soon  connected  with 
these  conflicts.  Florence  had  expelled  the  Ghibelines,  and 
considered  itself  a  Guelf  city  at  this  time.  Apprehensive  that 
the  exiles  might  connect  themselves  with  the  war  at  Pistoia, 
and  thus  extend  the  war  to  Florence,  and,  perhaps,  reinstate 
themselves,  the  government  undertook  to  restore  peace  at  Pis- 
toia. The  considerate  men  in  both  cities  deliberated,  and  it 
was  agreed  that  Pistoia  should  be  submitted  to  the  dominion 
of  Florence  for  three  years.  A  new  podesta  and  gonfalonier 
were  sent,  with  orders  to  choose  a  council  of  twelve,  half 
from  each  party,  and  the  chiefs  of  the  two  factions  were  exiled 
to  Florence.  The  portion  of  the  Cancellieri  called  white, 
were  hospitably  received  by  the  family  of  Cerchi,  before 
mentioned ;  and  those  called  the  black  were  received  by  the 
31 


362  FLORENCE. 

friends  and  allies  of  the  family  of  Donati.  The  chief  of  this 
family,  Carso  Donati,  became  the  leader  of  the  blacks,  and 
Vieri  des  Cerchi  the  leader  of  the  whites.  The  growing 
feuds  of  Florence  thus  found  banners,  imported  from  Pistoia, 
under  which  to  arrange  themselves.  Here,  again,  the  distinc- 
tions of  Guelf  and  Ghibeline  appeared,  the  blacks  inclining  to 
the  former,  and  the  whites  to  the  latter.  These  parties  soon 
came  to  blows  and  to  the  shedding  of  blood,  and  the  govern- 
ment of  Florence  had  no  alternative  but  to  exile  their  respec- 
tive chiefs.  The  blacks  were  ordered  to  Pieve  in  Perugia, 
sixty-three  miles  south-east  from  Florence,  and  eighty-four 
north  from  Rome ;  and  the  whites  to  Sarzana,  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  miles  north-west  from  Florence,  on  the  fron- 
tiers of  the  Genoese. 

The  chiefs  of  the  party  now  called  the  blacks,  being  Guelfs, 
and  near  enough  to  Rome  to  communicate  writh  the  pope,  (at 
this  time  Boniface  VIII.,)  always  the  Guelf  chief  as  the  head 
of  the  church,  sought  his  protection.  The  pope  had  three 
objects  in  view :  to  restore  peace  in  Florence,  to  punish  the 
Ghibelines,  and  to  conquer  Sicily.  He  therefore  invited 
Charles  of  Valois,  brother  of  Philip  le  Bel,  king  of  France, 
to  come  into  Italy  with  an  army,  and  offered  him  very  tempt- 
ing inducements.  He  came,  went  to  Rome,  and  having 
strengthened  his  military  force  by  the  addition  of  many  volun- 
teers, presented  himself  before  Florence.  After  making  a 
treaty  in  the  most  solemn  form,  and  ratifying  it  with  oaths, 
whereby  he  bound  himself  not  to  assume  any  sort  of  jurisdic- 
tion, or  exercise  any  power  in  Florence,  he  was  admitted  and 
received  with  respectful  honors.  He  entered  with  eight  hun- 
dred mounted  soldiers,  and  was  soon  joined  there  by  many 
others.  Having  obtained  possession  of  the  keys  of  one  of 
the  gates,  Charles  disregarded  all  his  solemn  engagements, 
admitted  the  exiled  Florentines  of  the  party  of  Corso  Donati, 
who  were  of  the  Guelfs  or  blacks.  The  houses  and  palaces 
of  the  Ghibelines  or  whites,  were  abandoned  to  fire  and  pil- 
lage during  six  days  and  nights,  as  well  as  their  castles  in  the 
vicinity.  Charles  remained  at  Florence  five  months,  exacting 
riches  from  its  inhabitants  by  threats  and  torture ;  and  on  the 
4th  of  April,  1302,  this  pacificator  of  Italy,  wrhom  Boniface 
had  called  in,  departed  with  the  maledictions  of  all  Tuscany. 
It  is  the  principal  reproach  of  the  Florentines,  that  they  were 
not,  at  any  time,  capable  of  protecting  themselves  by  a  military 
force,  formed  among  their  own  citizens.  They  had  thirty 
thousand  men,  capable  of  bearing  arms,  within  their  own 


FLORENCE.  363 

walls,  and  an  equal  number  in  their  surrounding  territory. 
But  they  do  not  exhibit,  at  any  period  of  their  history,  a  mili- 
tary spirit  consistent  with  other  characteristics  wherein  they 
were  the  superiors  of  all  their  contemporaries.  In  most  other 
cities,  such  a  visiter  as  Charles  would  have  been  soon  driven 
out,  or  made  to  pay  with  his  life  for  his  perfidy  and  robberies. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1303,  the  pope,. Benedict  XL,  sent 
the  cardinal  de  Prato  to  Florence,  to  make  peace.  The  black 
party  then  ruled  in  that  city,  and  the  white  party  at  Pistoia. 
The  cardinal  reformed  the  constitution,  but  failed  to  effect  his 
object.  In  June,  of  the  next  year,  he  departed,  leaving  the 
Florentines  under  malediction,  since  they  preferred  to  be  so 
dealt  with,  and, to  be  at  war  rather  than  in  peace  and  repose. 
Soon  after  his  departure,  civil  war  was  renewed,  and  the  rich- 
est part  of  the  city  burnt,  and  many  opulent  families  were 
ruined.  The  incensed  cardinal  invited  the  Ghibelines  and 
white  party  of  Pisa,  d' Arrezzo,  Bologna,  and  Pistoia,  to  attack 
Florence.  An  attempt  was  made,  but  failed,  not  from  the 
defence  of  Florence,  but  the  want  of  concert  among  its  ene- 
mies. Florence  next  engaged  the  duke  of  Calabria,  son  of 
Charles  II.,  king  of  Naples,  to  lead  its  military  force,  in 
alliance  with  the  republic  of  Lucca,  against  Pistoia.  This 
attack  reduced  Pistoia  to  >^he  necessity  of  sending  out  all 
wumeu  and  children,  and  all  non-combatants  from  the  city, 
and  they  were  submitted  to  the  cruelties  of  the  besieger.  Such 
was  their  fate,  (says  Sismondi,)  that  history  ought  not  to  pre- 
serve the  memory  of  it.  In  April,  1306,  Pistoia  surrendered 
to  Florence  and  Lucca.  The  terms  of  surrender  were  disre- 
garded, and  the  fortifications  of  the  city  and  its  walls  were 
demolished.  When  the  Pistoians  heard  that  a  man  of  low 
condition  was  coming  from  Lucca  to  rule  over  them,  with  one 
accord,  men,  women,  and  children,  united  to  fortify  the  city 
anew.  The  noble  resistance  of  this  people  softened  the  hearts 
of  the  Florentines,  who  interposed  for  them,  and  eventually 
secured  to  them  their  former  liberty  and  independence.  (1309.) 

In  the  years  1312  and  1313,  Henry  VII.,  emperor  of  Ger- 
many, was  in  Italy,  attempting  to  reinstate  the  imperial  author- 
ity. Florence  distinguished  itself  by  a  firm  resistance  of  this 
attempt.  The  sudden  death  of  Henry,  in  August  of  the  latter 
year,  changed,  at  once,  the  state  of  Italian  affairs.  At  this 
time  there  had  been  formed  in  Italy  many  military  bands, 
called  co?idottieri,  or  companies  of  adventurers,  whose  business 
it  was  to  let  themselves  for  the  best  wages  they  could  obtain; 
and  when  not  so  employed,  they  sustained  themselves   by 


364 


FLORENCE. 


plunder.  The  Florentines  depended  on  these  hired  troops, 
and  were  often  deprived  of  this  dependence  when  their  ene- 
mies could  seduce  these  adventurers  by  offering  more  profita- 
ble terms. 

In  1320,  a  new  Guelf  and  Ghibeline  war  had  arisen,  in 
which  Florence  was  one  party,  and  the  cities  of  Lucca  and 
Pisa  were  united  as  the  other.  "  Pisa  is  near  the  sea-coast  on 
the  north  side  of  the  Arno,  and  Lucca  north-east  of  Pisa,  ten 
miles,  and  west  of  Florence  about  forty-eight.  The  enemies 
of  the  Florentines  were  led  by  Castruccio  Castracani,  an  ac- 
complished soldier  and  a  very  able  man,  who  had  made  him- 
self lord  of  Lucca.  In  this  war  the  Florentines  attempted  to 
perform  the  duties  of  soldiers,  but  only  proved  their  utter 
incompetency.  Castruccio  desolated  the  beautiful  valley  of 
the  Arno,  took  possession  of  the  environs  of  Florence,  and 
used  the  race-ground  under  the  walls  of  the  city,  and  in*  view 
of  its  inhabitants,  for  sports  adapted  to  exasperate  and  mortify 
these  spectators.  The  men  within  the  walls  much  exceeded 
the  number  of  their  enemies  without ;  but  they  had  no  such 
martial  qualities  as  the  occasion  required.  Castruccio  return- 
ed to  Lucca  at  his  leisure,  with  an  immense  booty,  and  made 
a  triumphal  entry  into  the  city.   (1325.) 

Florence  was  compelled  to  submit  itself  to  the  protection  of 
the  duke  of  Calabria,  who  appeared  in  Tuscany  as  the  chief 
of  the  Guelf  party.  Louis  IV.,  the  German  emperor,  called 
Louis  of  Bavaria,  appeared  at  this  time  in  Italy  to  re-establish 
the  imperial  power.  The  Ghibelines  rallied  around  him,  and, 
among  others,  Construccio.  The  cities  of  Lucca  and  Pisa 
were  on  the  same  side.  A  destructive  war  ensued.  The 
death  of  Construccio,  through  exposure  and  fatigue,  was  re- 
ceived by  the  Florentines  as  the  most  fortunate  event  for  them. 
The  emperor  lost  in  him  his  ablest  supporter,  and  was  soon 
compelled  to  retreat. 

The  retreat  of  Louis  IV.,  and  the  death  of  Construccio,  per- 
mitted Florence  to  attend  to  her  affairs  at  home.  Between  the 
years  1330  and  1340,  this  city  appears  to  have  attained  to  great 
prosperity.  Her  territory  was  not  more  than  20  miles  square. 
Within  the  city  the  population  (as  estimated  by  Sismondi)  was 
150,000;  and  about  thrice  that  number  in  the  surrounding  ter- 
ritory. 1500  families  were  noble.  There  was  a  class  below 
them  called  gentlemen.  Below  this  class  were  merchants, 
bankers,  retailers,  mechanics,  laborers.  Between  8  or  10,000 
children  were  instructed  in  reading;  200  in  arithmetic;  5  or 
600  in  logic  and  grammar.     There  were  many  religious  estab- 


FLORENCE.  365 

lishments,  and  among  them  1 10  churches ;  300  priests ;  30 
hospitals,  in  which  were  beds  for  1000  poor  patients.  The  av- 
erage number  of  strangers  was  15,000.  The  manufactories 
were  numerous ;  the  principal  one  was  cloth,  and  English  wool 
was  used  in  this.  From  70  to  80,000  pieces  of  cloth  were  made 
yearly,  and  30,000  workmen  employed.  The  cloth  was  valued 
at  1,200,000  florins.*  There  were  divers  other  factories.  The 
agricultural  products  of  the  Florentines  were  very  consider- 
able. They  had  no  sea-port  nor  ships.  Strangers  came  to 
purchase,  and  Florentines  sent  their  merchandise  abroad. 
They  had  banking-houses  in  many  cities,  and  loaned  money  to 
princes  and  kings.  In  1 345  the  house  of  Bardi,  of  Florence, 
became  bankrupt;  Edward  III.,  of  England,  owing  them  900,- 
000  gold  florins ;  about  450,000  pounds  sterling.  The  Peruz- 
zi,  another  banking-house,  failed  about  the  same  time,  to  whom 
Edward  owed  600,000  florins.  The  king  of  Sicily  owed  each 
of  these  bankers  100,000  florins.  Suppose,  for  all  other  debt- 
ors, 300,000  florins,  there  would  be  two  millions  of  florins,  or 
one  million  of  pounds,  which  would  be  four  millions,  at  least, 
of  the  present  value  of  money.  These  facts  show  a  most  en- 
riching commerce  for  that  age.  The  annual  revenue  of  Flor- 
ence, in  1336,  was  estimated  at  300,000  florins.  The  annual 
expenditure  not  half  that  sum.     Public  officers  were  not  paid. 

The  environs  of  Florence  were  exceedingly  beautiful — high- 
ly cultivated,  and  adorned  with  costly  buildings.  The  city  dis- 
closed the  opulence  of  its  inhabitants  in  many  palaces,  and  pub- 
lic edifices.  Strength,  rather  than  beauty,  was  at  this  time  the 
characteristic  of  building.  At  a  later  period  taste  and  elegance 
appeared. 

The  Florentines  are  thus  described  by  Sismondi : — "  They 
discovered,  sooner  than  others  could,  the  shortest  way  of  ar- 
riving at  their  object ;  and  better  understood  the  advantages, 
and  inconveniences,  which  might  be  expected.  In  politics, 
they  discerned  the  projects  of  their  enemies,  and  anticipated 
the  course  of  events.  Their  natural  vivacity  did  not  prevent 
a  cool  and  determined  pursuit  of  their  purposes.  They  delib- 
erated before  they  acted ;  and  persisted,  when  action  began,  un- 
disturbed by  unexpected  checks.  They  united  vivacity  and 
force — gaiety  and  philosophy — pleasantry  and  severe  medita- 

*  According  to  Sismondi's  estimate,  the  gold  florin  was  equal  to  two 
dollars  and  sixty  cents ;  and  gold  was  four  times  as  valuable  as  it  now 
is.  But  Hallam  values  the  florin  at  ten  shillings  sterling,  equal  to  two 
dollars  and  twenty-five  cents. 

31* 


366  FLORENCE. 

tion.  They  were  devoted  to  liberty,  and  desired  it  not  only 
for  themselves,  but  for  all  others.  They  have  the  merit  of  hav- 
ing first  thought  of  the  balance  of  power,  and  of  uniting  all 
Italy  to  preserve  the  independence  of  each  state."  They  were, 
however,  deficient  in  one  quality  indispensable  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  their  purposes;  they  had  not  a  military  force  of 
their  own  citizens.  They  had  good  counsel,  and  riches ;  but 
these  did  not  secure  them  against  afflictive  reverses  in  foreign 
wars,  nor  against  the  miseries  of  internal  commotion. 

In  1328  Florence  had- been  governed  by  the  duke  of  Cala- 
bria, at  its  own  request.  His  death  permitted  a  revision  of  the 
form  of  government.  Soon  after  this  time  a  controversy  arose 
between  Florence  and  Milan.  The  latter  desired  to  possess 
Lucca,  and  the  Florentines,  to  prevent  the  presence  of  so  trou- 
blesome a  neighbor,  preferred  to  have  possession  for  them- 
selves. Pisa,  also,  desired  the  same  acquisition  for  itself.  Luc- 
ca was,  at  this  time,  conquered,  and  in  possession  of  the  Ger- 
mans, who  were  ready  to  sell  for  the  best  price.  War  followed, 
in  which,  as  usual,  the  Guelf  and  Ghibeline  factions  took  part, 
as  well  as  the  German  emperor,  and  the  church.  Besides  this 
war,  all  Tuscany,  and  especially  the  valley  of  the  Arno,  was 
deluged  by  rain — its  villages  were  overwhelmed — three  of  the 
four  bridges  of  Florence  were  swept  away — a  part  of  its  walls 
undermined  and  thrown  down,  and  a  severe  loss  of  property 
and  lives  experienced.  Meanwhile,  the  war  had  extended  into 
northern  Italy,  and  Mastino  dela  Scala,  then  the  sovereign  of 
Verona,  had  come  in  contact  with  the  Florentines,  as  enemies. 

It  was  the  ill  fortune  of  Florence  to  confide  its  destiny  in 
the  war  to  Gaultier  de  Brienne,  called  the  duke  of  Athens. 
This  person  was  born  in  Greece,  and  had  ruled  over  a  territo- 
ry there,  and  had  some  reputation  as  a  military  leader  ;  but  was, 
in  all  other  respects,  a  detestable  character.  Having  lost  his 
duchy,  he  was  passing  through  Tuscany  to  France,  when  the 
Florentines  placed  him  in  command  of  its  military  forces.  By 
a  series  of  base  and  perfidious  measures,  he  made  himself  Lord 
of  Florence,  and  reigned  there  nearly  a  year  as  an  unsparing 
despot.  He  exacted  treasures  by  torture,  and  gave  way  to 
every  evil  propensity  which  could  find  a  victim.  Three  differ- 
ent conspiracies  were  formed,  each  ignorant  of  the  other,  and 
when  they  were  brought  into  action,  it  was  found  that  nearly 
the  whole  city  were  engaged  in  the  same  purpose.  The  duke 
was  subdued — capitulated,  and  was  permitted  to  withdraw,  hav- 
ing sent  immense  sums  of  money  to  places  of  safety,  while  his 
power  continued.     The  day  of  his  overthrow  (the  26th  of  July, 


FLORENCE.  367 

1343,)  was  annually  celebrated  by  the  Florentines,  by  a  sol- 
emn festival. 

While  the  duke  tyrannized  in  Florence,  all  its  treasures,  and 
all  the  territorial  possessions  which  it  had  gained  in  Tuscany, 
were  lost.  Ten  years  before,  it  was  the  richest  in  annual  rev- 
enue, of  any  power  in  Europe,  France  only  excepted.  In 
these  ten  years,  Pisa  had  obtained  possession  of  Lucca,  and 
had  grown  powerful  in  the  same  proportion  in  which  Florence 
was  impaired.  Florence,  in  attempting  to  reinstate  itself,  re- 
formed its  constitution,  but  excluded  the  nobles  from  all  partici- 
pation in  the  government.  This  measure  had  not  the  desired 
effect ;  as  the  nobles  became  impatient  and  factious,  while  the 
citizens,  who  were  entrusted  with  power,  in  order  to  counteract 
them,  assumed  greater  authority,  and  degenerated  into  a  more 
odious  oligarchy  than  could  have  been  exercised  by  the  nobles. 
These  citizens  preserved  the  forms  of  the  republic,  but  so  man- 
aged as  to  secure  the  elections  of  themselves,  or  their  own  crea- 
tures. 

Between  the  year  1346  and  1350,  Florence,  in  common  with 
all  Italy,  as  to  scarcity  of  food,  and  in  common  with  all  Eu- 
rope as  to  pestilence,  was  grievously  afflicted.  Excessive  rains 
prevented  the  usual  products  of  the  earth.  The  humane  and 
considerate  character  of  the  Florentines  appears  to  great  ad- 
vantage in  this  calamity.  In  April,  1347,  the  number  of  per- 
sons who  received  bread  daily,  at  the  public  cost,  was  94,000. 
No  poor  person,  nor  stranger,  was  left  without  reasonable  pro- 
vision. Yet  the  mortality,  from  the  epidemic  and  privations, 
'  was  not  less  than  4,000,  in  that  year.  The  collection  of  debts 
was  suspended.  These  afflictions  were  trifles  compared 
with  those  of  the  following  year  (1348.)  The  plague,  said 
to  have  originated  eastwardly  of  the  Mediterranean,  extend- 
ed to  Italy  and  throughout  Europe,  and  continued  its  rav- 
ages through  the  two  following  years.  Sismondi  gives  a 
mournful  description  of  this  calamity.  Three,  out  of  every 
five  persons,  died  at  Florence.  In  one  town  in  Sicily,  all  the 
inhabitants  perished.  The  usual  exhibition  of  selfishness,  in 
cases  of  universal  peril,  is  described;  and  also  that  reckless- 
ness which  approaching  and  inevitable  destruction  is  often  seen 
to  occasion.  The  Florentines  abandoned  themselves  to  pleas- 
ure, as  the  best  mode  of  forgetting,  and  possibly  of  escaping, 
the  common  foe.  The  deaths  at  Florence  were  computed  at 
100,000;  while  at  Pisa  7  in  every  10  died.  It  was  a  common 
expression :  Help  us  to  carry  these  dead  to  the  ditch,  so  that 
we,  in  our  turn,  may  be  carried  thither.  Sismondi  remarks 
that  the  history  of  Giovanni  Villani,  and  many  other  Italian 


368  FLORENCE. 

histories,  terminate  in  1348,  whence,  he  concludes,  that  the 
authors,  (as  is  known  to  have  been  the  case  with  Villani,)  per- 
ished in  this  pestilence. 

In  the  year  1354,  Charles  IV.,  emperor  of  Germany,  came 
to  Italy  with  the  intention  of  having  his  authority  acknowl- 
edged, and  for  the  purpose  of  being  crowned  with  the  iron 
crown  of  Lombardy,  and  the  imperial  crown  at  Rome.  He 
was  attended  only  by  300  unarmed  gentlemen.  In  some  of  the 
cities,  as  in  Milan,  Genoa,  Lucca,  Pisa,  and  Sienna,  his  sover- 
eignty was  acknowledged,  but  with  different  modifications, 
while  the  Florentines  declined  receiving  him  within  their  ter- 
ritories, or  to  acknowledge  his  dominion.  Charles  had  no 
means  of  enforcing  his  claims,  nor  was  an  admission  of  his 
imperial  authority  of  any  value  to  him.  His  object  was  to  ex- 
act money.  Florence  consulted  its  own  interest  in  purchasing 
amity  with  Charles  at  the  cost  of  100,000  florins;  and  stipulat- 
ed a  formal  acknowledgment,  (and  consequent  right  to  protec- 
tion,) of  being  a  city  of  the  empire;  but  with  the  condition 
that  no  imperial  officer  should  reside  among  them,  and  that 
there  should  not  be  any  interference,  on  the  part  of  the  Empe- 
ror, with  its  internal  government.  Though  Charles  had  been 
more  successful  in  the  other  republics,  all  his  authority  van- 
ished as  soon  as  he  departed  in  the  following  year.  He  left 
the  impression  every  where,  that  while  he  could  amass  riches 
he  was  indifferent  to  public  opinion  ;  and  that  he  had  debased 
the  imperial  dignity  far  below  the  point  at  which  the  Italians 
themselves  were  too  disposed  to  regard  it.  His  presence  had  no 
tendency  to  establish  peace  and  harmony  between  the  republics 
and  the  empire;  nor  among  the  republics  themselves.  Com- 
motions and  violence  soon  followed  in  most  of  them.  Besides 
these  evils,  Italy  had  to  contend  with  the  armed  companies  of 
adventurers,  who  lived  by  plunder,  when  not  hired  by  the  re- 
publics, to  aid  them  in  their  wars.  A  very  formidable  body  „ 
was  gathered  by  the  count  de  Lando,  which  was  terrible  to  all 
these  republics.  Another  affliction  which  these  republics  had 
to  contend  with  was  the  perfidious  and  insolent  ambition  of 
Gean  Galeaz  Visconti,  duke  of  Milan,  who  sought  to  subject 
all  northern  and  middle  Italy  to  his  power.  The  ancient  hos- 
tilities still  continued,  arranged  on  the  one  side  and  the  other 
under  the  familiar  names  of  Guelf  and  Ghibeline. 

Hitherto  Pisa  had  been  the  port  by  which  Florence  had 
conducted  its  foreign  maritime  commerce.  The  former  had 
always  been  Ghibeline,  and  unfriendly  to  Florence,  (which  was 
always  of  the  Guelf  party,)  and  had  given  repeated  causes  of 


FLORENCE.  369 

dissatisfaction.  Instead  of  waging-  war  with  Pisa,  for  these 
causes,  Florence  contracted  with  Sienna  for  the  use  of  the  port 
of  Telamone,  which  is  situated  on  the  Tuscan  shore,  85  miles 
S.  E.  of  Pisa,  and  65  south  of  Florence.  This  port  was  less 
convenient  to  the  Florentines  than  Pisa,  as  it  was  one  third 
more  distant,  and  connected  with  Florence  by  less  passable 
roads  ;  but  the  control  of  the  port  was  acquired,  which  was  a 
full  equivalent.  This  measure  was  ruinous  to  Pisa,  as  many 
merchants  established  there,  withdrew  to  Telemone,  and  among 
them  many  native  Pisans.  Even  the  mechanics  felt  this  blow 
severely  ;  and  such  was  the  rapid  decline  of  that  city,  that  new 
and  very  advantageous  offers  were  made  to  Florence  to  return; 
but  these  were  not  accepted.  The  Florentines  had  resolved  to 
show  that  Pisa  was  not  necessary  to  them,  and  that  they  would 
not  make  war,  while  they  could  preserve  peace. 

Similar  causes  of  enmity,  though  not  commercial,  had 
brought  two  other  republics  into  open  hostility,  about  this  time. 
One  of  these  republics  was  Perugia,  about  67  miles  S.  E.  of 
Florence;  and  the  other  Cortona,  (the  ancient  capital  of  Etru- 
ria,)  about  52  miles  from  Florence,  nearly  in  the  same  course. 
Sienna,  in  the  same  neighborhood,  was  drawn  into  this  conflict. 
Florence  offered  its  mediation  ;  but  the  parties  were  too  much 
enraged  to  accept  it.  The  company  of  Count  de  Lando,  then 
in  Romagna,  on  the  north-eastern  side  of  Italy,  was  invited  to 
take  part  in  this  war.  When  this  war  ended,  Count  de  Lando 
threatened  Florence,  and  led  his  army  north-westwardly,  to- 
wards Lucca.  He  demanded  a  large  sum  of  Florence  to  save 
its  territories  from  pillage.  But  Florence  refused  all  terms 
with  Lando,  and  prepared  for  defence.  An  army  of  sufficient 
power  to  check  Lando  was  sent  down  the  valley  of  the  Arno; 
and  after  mutual  menaces,  Lando  withdrew,  and  passed  over 
the  Apennines,  northwardly,  into  Modena.  These  military  ad- 
venturers were  never  disposed  to  battle  unless  they  were  under 
pay,  or  could  see,  at  the  end  of  a  conflict,  the  certainty  of 
booty. 

In  1360,  a  conspiracy  was  engendered  at  Florence,  in  which 
the  name  of  Medici  first  appears  in  history.  The  administra- 
tion of  public  affairs,  as  to  all  exterior  relations,  had  been 
prudently  and  successfully  conducted,  but  it  had  caused  dissat- 
isfaction at  home.  Both  the  higher  and  the  lower  orders  of 
persons  were  excluded  from  all  authority,  unless  an  occasion 
arose  in  which  some  matter,  as  a  public  treaty,  was  to  be  acted 
upon.  In  such  cases,  there  was  sometimes  a  convention  of  all 
the  people.     At  this  time,  a  small  number  of  citizens  had 


370  FLORENCE. 

managed  to  engross  the  whole  of  the  administration,  though 
the  constitutional  forms  were  preserved.  This  plot  to  over- 
throw the  government  was  discovered.  Forty-five  citizens  of 
a  superior  class,  and  eighty  inferior  ones,  were  arrested  and 
condemned,  but  a  small  portion  of  them  were  put  to  death. 

South  of  Florence  thirty-five  miles,  and  about  the  same  dis- 
tance south-east  of  Pisa,  was  the  small  republic  of  Volterra, 
situate  on  a  lofty  mountain.  This  republic  was  an  object  of 
desire,  both  to  Pisa  and  to  Florence.  The  latter  obtained  the 
dominion.  This  fact,  with  others,  some  of  which  have  been 
noticed,  ripened  the  long-continued  rancor  of  these  two  repub- 
lics into  open  hostility.  Pisa,  formerly  so  powerful  on  the 
ocean,  had  long  ceased  to  be  a  maritime  power,  or  to  maintain 
a  single  ship  of  war.  For  the  first  time  Florence  displayed  a 
flag  on  the  ocean.  Ships  were  hired  of  the  Genoese,  and 
added  to  others.  Pisa  was  attacked  from  the  sea,  and  the 
great  iron  chain  which  protected  its  harbor,  was  taken  up  and 
sent  to  Florence,  (1361,)  where  some  parts  of  it  are  said  to  be 
still  suspended  in  honor  of  the  achievement.  This  war  gradu- 
ally involved  most  of  the  states  of  Italy,  and  disclosed  various 
scenes  of  cruelty  and  perfidy,  especially  on  the  part  of  the 
hired  chiefs.  It  ended  in  August,  1364,  by  a  restoration  to 
the  Florentines  of  all  their  commercial  privileges  at  Pisa,  and 
the  engagement  of  Pisa  to  pay  Florence  one  hundred  thousand 
florins,  ten  thousand  a  year. 

In  1368,  Charles  IV.,  emperor  of  Germany,  again  appeared 
in  Italy  to  levy  new  contributions.  Having  possessed  himself 
of  Lucca,  he  sold  it  to  its  inhabitants  for  three  hundred  thou- 
sand florins,  with  the  right  to  resume  their  ancient  liberty. 
At  Sienna  he  was  resisted,  treated  with  rudeness,  and  was  even 
personally  endangered. 

In  1375,  the  attempts  of  the  duke  of  Milan,  (Visconti,)  to 
subdue  Tuscany,  and  the  estates  held  by  the  church,  united 
pope  Gregory  XL,  and  Florence,  in  a  war  against  Milan. 
The  pope  treacherously  made  peace  with  Milan,  and  thereby 
so  exasperated  the  Florentines  that  they  declared  war  against 
him.  They  inscribed  liberty  on  their  banners,  and  proclaimed 
that  they  sought  no  conquests,  but  to  restore  the  people  of 
every  city  and  state  to  freedom,  who  desired  it.  In  ten  days 
eighty  cities  and  towns  threw  oft'  the  yoke  of  papal  authority. 
These  cities  and  towns  were  situated  north  and  north-east  of 
Florence,  in  the  states  of  the  church. 

In  1378,  a  revolution  occurred  in  Florence.  Two  parties 
arose,  the  Albizzi  and  the  Ricci,  from  the  names  of  the  leaders. 


MEDICI.  371 

The  former  maintained  the  Guelf  party,  and  this  was  a  suffi- 
cient reason  why  the  other  should  be  Ghibelines  ;  they  were 
new  men,  but  had  acquired  great  wealth.  Among  them  were 
the  Medici  family.  The  Ricci  maintained  that  the  names  of 
Guelf  and  Ghibeline  had  ceased  to  have  any  meaning,  and 
ought  to  be  abolished ;  and  this  party  were,  in  truth,  much 
more  disposed  to  maintain  popular  liberty  than  the  other. 


CHAPTER   LV. 

Medici  Family. 

The  Medici  were  an  ancient  family  of  Florence.  It  is  inti- 
mated that  the  name,  and  the  six  balls  seen  in  the  family  arms, 
indicate  their  original  profession  of  medicine.  But  from  the 
earliest  historical  notice  of  the  Medici,  till  they  were  expelled 
from  Florence  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  commerce 
was  their  vocation.  Giovanni  de  Medici  is  mentioned  ins 
1351,  in  a  military  exploit.  Silvestro  in  1379,  as  Gonfalonier 
of  Florence.  One  Giovanni  was  the  father  of  Cosmo,  who 
was  born  in  1389;  and  of  Lorenzo  who  was  born  in  1394. 

Children  of  Cosmo.  1.  Piero.  2.  Giovanni.  3.  An  ille- 
gitimate son,  Carlo.     Giovanni  died  without  issue. 

Children  of  Piero.  This  son  died  in  1469,  leaving  1.  Lo- 
renzo the  Magnificent,  born  1448,  died  1492.  2.  Guiliano, 
born  1458,  assassinated  1478.  3.  An  illegitimate  son,  Guilio, 
who  became  pope  by  the  name  of  Clement  VII. 

Children  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent: — 1.  Piero,  born  in 
1471,  exiled,  and  drowned  in  1504.*  2.  Giovanni  born  1475; 
pope,  by  the  name  of  Leo  X.,  in  1512;  died  in  1521.  3. 
Guiliano,  who  married  a  French  princess,  and  became  duke 
of  Nemours. 

Grandchildren  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  by  his  son  Piero  : 
— 1.  Lorenzo,  who  was  made  duke  of  Urbino ;  married  Marga- 
ret of  Bologna,  and  died  1519. 

Great-grandchildren  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  through 
his  son  Piero,  and  grandson  Lorenzo : — 1.  Catherine  de  Medici, 
born  in  1519,  died  in  1589,  having  married  Henry  II.  of 
France.  2.  Alessandro,  an  illegitimate,  who  was  either  the 
son  of  Lorenzo,  or  of  pope  Clement  VII.,  born  1510,  created 


372  MEDICI. 

duke  of  Florence  by  Charles  V. ;  assassinated  by   his  cousin 
Lorenzo,  1537.    He  married  a  natural  daughter  of  Charles  V. 

Descendants  of  Lorenzo,  (brother  of  Cosmo,)  who  died  in 
1440.  He  had  one  son,  two  grandsons.  The  grandson  of 
one  of  this  Lorenzo's  grandsons,  was  the  Lorenzo  who  assassi- 
nated the  duke  Alessandro.  The  grandson  of  the  other  grand- 
son, was  Cosmo  de  Medici,  born  1519,  duke  of  Florence  in 
1537,  duke  of  Tuscany  in  1569,  died  1574.  From  him  de- 
scended the  successive  grand  dukes  of  Tuscany,  the  last  of  this 
race  being  Giovanni  Gaston,  who  died  in  1737.  Some  of  the 
descendants  of  the  father  of  the  original  Cosmo,  intermarried 
with  several  noble  and  royal  families ;  others  are  seen  through 
many  generations,  among  the  highest  dignitaries  of  the  church. 

In  June,  1378,  Silvestro  de  Medici  was  chosen  gonfalonier, 
and  prevailed  on  the  people  to  abolish  a  law,  and  the  usage 
under  it,  by  which  the  Albizzi  party  had,  for  many  years,  ex- 
cluded all  citizens  from  the  government  but  themselves.  The 
effect  of  this  abolition  was,  that  no  person  should  be  ineligible 
for  the  reason  that  his  ancestors  were  Ghibelines.  The  way 
being  thus  opened,  the  lower  order  of  mechanics,  and  poorer 
classes  of  artizans  insisted  on  the  right  of  being  eligible.  A 
tumult  arose,  and  Michael  Lando,  a  carder  of  wool,  dressed  in 
a  short  waistcoat,  and  barefooted,  marched  at  the  head  of  the 
people,  bearing  the  state  banner  (gonfalon)  which  he  had  taken 
from  the  palace;  and  Lando  was  made  gonfalonier  by  accla- 
mation— an  office  equivalent  to  the  modern  mayoralty.  Lando 
exercised  his  power  with  vigor  and  discretion,  but  it  was  of 
short  duration.  In  January,  1383,  the  nobles,  rich  merchants, 
and  higher  citizens,  took  possession  of  the  public  places,  and 
re-established  aristocracy.  Lando  and  his  chiefs  were  exiled. 
The  Albizzi  party  were  enabled  to  resume  their  power. 

The  principal  troubles  of  Florence,  during  the  residue  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  arose  'from  the  plots  and  warfare  of  the 
Visconti  of  Milan  to  subdue  Tuscany.  The  riches  of  the 
Florentines,  and  their  extensive  commercial  connections,  en- 
abled them  to  seek  and  obtain  aid  in  different  parts  of  Europe. 
Among  other  military  adventurers  in  Italy,  was  John  Hawk- 
wood,  an  Englishman,  who  led  a  numerous  force,  and  who 
was  considered  one  of  the  ablest  generals  of  that  age.  He 
was  employed  by  Milan,  but  was  purchased  into  the  service  of 
Florence.  He  rendered  most  important  services,  and  continued 
faithful  in  this  employment  till  his  death.  He  was  buried  in 
Florence,  and  an  equestrian  monument  is  said  still  to  exist 
there,  in  honor  of  his  usefulness.     Fortunately  for  Italy,  Gian 


medici.  373 

Galeazzo  Visconti,  one  of  the  ablest,  most  perfidious,  and 
criminal  of  men,  disappeared  from  the  troubled  scenes  of  which 
he  was  the  principal  cause.  He  died  of  the  pestilence  which 
prevailed,  3d  of  September,  1402. 

The  period  of  the  highest  prosperity,  and  the  greatest  de- 
gree of  rational,  practicable  liberty,  ever  enjoyed  by  Florence, 
was  from  the  overthrow  of  the  popular  leaders  in  1383,  to  the 
year  1434,  under  the  Albizzi  party.  The  people  had  learned 
that  every  citizen  is  not  alike  capable  of  conducting  the  affairs 
of  a  state.  In  the  transactions  of  business,  the  Florentines 
perceived  that  they  were  necessarily  connected  with  the  intel- 
ligent and  judicious  in  the  operations  of  trade,  industry,  and 
commerce;  and  that  whatsoever  policy  was  beneficial  to  the 
owners  of  capital,  on  which  all  commercial  action  depended, 
was  alike  beneficial  to  those  whose  daily  labor  produced  the 
articles  which  commerce  could  profitably  exchange.  They 
perceived  also,  that  those  who  could  direct  the  measures  neces- 
sary to  the  common  and  general  prosperity  in  private  life, 
would  be  most  capable  of  directing  public  measures,  indispen- 
sable to  secure  that  prosperity.  The  citizens  were  profitably 
busy  in  the  manufacturing  of  woollen  goods,  which  excelled 
those  of  all  other  countries,  and  which  were  known  through- 
out Europe.  They  excelled  also  in  silks,  and  gold  brocade, 
and  had  many  other  factories.  Their  merchants  were  the 
greatest  capitalists  of  Europe,  and  had  countinghouses  in- 
every  considerable  city  of  the  commercial  world.  The  agri- 
cultural part  of  the  Florentine  state  was  the  best  cultivated, 
and  the  most  productive  of  any  in  Italy.  Taxes  were  imposed 
moderately  and  equably,  founded  on  a  just  enumeration  and 
fair  estimate  of  property.  Several  of  the  small  republics  in 
the  south  and  west,  Pisa,  Pistoia,  Arezzo,  Volterra,  were 
either  subjected  by  Florence,  or  greatly  influenced  by  its 
policy.  Its  influence  was  strongly  experienced  in  all  the 
Italian  states;  for,  though  it  had  neither  fleets  nor  armies,  it 
had  abundant  riches,  and  vigilant  and  able  statesmen.  In  this 
time,  the  arts,  sciences,  and  literature,  took  root  in  Florence, 
and  flourished  there  as  in  their  native  land.  This  was,  it  is 
true,  the  government  of  an  aristocracy,  (or  a  few  men,)  in  a 
republic,  but  it  was  also  (as  that  term  originally  implied,)  the 
government  of  the  best  men.  Not  only  did  these  men  preserve 
rational  freedom  in  Florence,  but  they  spared  no  exertion  to 
secure  like  freedom  throughout  Italy.  But  these  days  of 
"glory  and  wisdom,"  as  they  were  justly  called,  could  not 
endure  forever.  The  rulers  might  degenerate,  or  envy  and 
32 


374  MEDICI. 

ambition  in  the  excluded  might  bring  them  to  a  close.  Ri- 
naldo  Albizzi,  in  1433,  forgot  that  he  was  only  the  first  among 
free  citizens ;  and  he  saw  with  displeasure  the  growing  gran- 
deur of  the  Medici,  who  felt  that  they  were  entitled  to  share 
in  the  power  which  the  Albizzi  had  engrossed. 

Cosmo  de  Medici  was  born  in  1389.  He  was  the  son  of 
Giovanni  de  Medici,  and  enjoyed  an  hereditary  popularity  in 
Florence  as  a  descendant  of  Silvestro  de  Medici,  who  had 
taken  the  popular  side  in  the  revolution  of  1378.  From  the 
time  that  the  Albizzi  were  reinstated  in  1383,  they  either  could 
not,  or  thought  it  inexpedient  to  exclude  the  Medici  from  all 
participation  in  the  government.  Giovanni  was  made  gon- 
falonier, and  afterwards,  in  1416,  Cosmo  was  one  of  the  priors. 
Cosmo's  rank  was  that  of  the  first  merchant,  having  establish- 
ments in  most  of  the  cities  in  the  West  and  the  East.  He 
dweit  in  a  sumptuous  palace,  and  made  it  the  resort  of  artists, 
poets,  and  learned  men.  His  agents  transmitted  to  him  every 
valuable  specimen  of  the  arts  which  they  could  command. 
He  was  as  liberal  as  he  was  rich,  and  there  were  few  who  had 
need  of  his  bounty,  who  did  not  enjoy  it. 

Cosmo  had  no  intention  to  revive  the  popular  opinions  and 
insubordination  which  were  imputed  to  his  ancestor  Silvestro ; 
but  he  was  unrestrained  in  the  expression  of  his  disapprobation 
of  the  exercise  of  power  by  Rinaldo  Albizzi.  Rinaldo  ven- 
tured, in  September,  1433,  to  arraign  Cosmo  as  a  state  crimi- 
nal, and  committed  him  to  prison.  It  was  still  the  custom  in 
Florence  to  summon  the  people  on  important  occasions,  to 
assemble  by  the  tolling  of  the  great  bell.  When  so  assembled, 
the  will  of  the  people  was  supreme.  The  people  ordered  that 
there  should  be  a  new  balia,  or  commission,  empowered  to 
select  those  citizens  whose  names  were  to  be  placed  in  a  box, 
to  be  drawn  thence  j  and  those  on  whom  the  choice  so  made, 
should  fall,  were  to  exercise  the  powers  of  government.  Ri- 
naldo presented  a  list  of  two  hundred,  who  were  to  be  the 
commissioners,  if  the  people  approved  of  them.  They  were 
approved  of,  and  no  names  were  placed  in  the  box,  but  of  per- 
sons who  were  friendly  to  Rinaldo.  The  new  government 
were  the  creatures  of  Rinaldo,  and  he  expected  from  them  the 
sentence  of  death  on  Cosmo ;  but  they  went  no  further  than  to 
condemn  him  and  his  friends  to  exile.  The  partial  triumph 
of  Rinaldo  was  short.  In  September,  1434,  a  new  election 
gave  other  officers  to  the  city ;  Cosmo  and  his  friends  were 
recalled,  and  Rinaldo  and  his  friends  were  exiled. 

Rinaldo  went  to  Milan,  and  induced  the  duke  Filippo  Maria 


MEDICI.  375 

Visconti  to  declare  war  against  Florence,  which  continued  till 
October,  1441.  Cosmo  de  Medici  was  gradually  strengthening 
himself  in  Florence,  and,  in  fact,  shared  the  sovereignty  with 
Neri  Capponi,  without  disturbing  the  forms  of  the  republic. 
Capponi  was  a  great  statesman,  an  able  negotiator,  and  an 
accomplished  general.  Cosmo  was  not  a  military  man,  and 
was  the  inferior  of  Capponi  in  the  qualities  of  a  statesman,  but 
far  superior  as  the  patron  of  learning  and  of  literature,  as  well 
as  in  riches  and  in  personal  adherents.  These  two  chiefs 
maintained,  in  general,  an  amicable  intercourse,  and  during 
twenty-one  years,  from  1434  to  1456,  the  people  were  always 
satisfied  to  renew  their  power.  At  the  close  of  this  period,  the 
decease  of  Capponi  left  Cosmo  as  the  sole  head  of  the  republic. 
A  new  choice  of  officers  occurred  on  the  1st  of  July,  1455, 
when  some  jealousy  had  arisen  as  to  Cosmo.  Pierre  Rucellai 
was  chosen  gonfalonier.  This  change  led  to  dissatisfactions 
among  the  people,  from  various  causes;  and  Lucas  Pitti  was 
elected  in  1458.  Cosmo  was  now  too  far  advanced  in  age  to 
take  an  active  part  in  public  affairs,  and  Pitti  became  the 
actual  sovereign  of  Florence.  He  built  two  palaces,  one 
within  the  city,  and  one  a  mile  from  it,  of  a  grandeur  before 
unknown  by  the  Florentines.  Though  rich,  he  accepted 
presents  from  all  who  were  disposed  to  make  them,  and  even 
those  who  were  liable  to  arrest  from  any  cause,  however 
criminal,  were  protected  while  laboring  on  Pitti's  palaces. 
The  conduct  of  Cosmo  had  been  entirely  different.  He  had 
never  affected  a  grandeur  above  other  citizens,  and  regretted 
to  see  that  the  party  which  he  had  supported  had  given  a 
tyrant  to  the  republic.  He  kept  himself  retired  from  public 
affairs,  and  dwelt  in  the  country.  Yet  the  hope  that  the  fami- 
ly of  Medici  would  preserve  its  power  in  Florence,  and  its 
eminent  distinction  abroad,  was  ever  the  object  of  his  contem- 
plation. The  son  on  whom  he  reposed  this  hope,  Giovanni, 
had  died  at  the  age  of  forty-two.  His  oldest  son,  Piero,  was  of 
feeble  constitution,  and  not  qualified  to  assume  the  cares  of 
government.  The  children  of  Piero  were  very  young.  The 
cherished  ambition  of  the  decaying  Cosmo,  was  expressed  in 
the  remark  which  he  made,  when  carried  through  his  vast 
palace:  "This  house  is  very  large  for  so  small  a  family." 
He  died  at  his  country  residence,  (Correggio,)  August  1st, 
1464,  in  his  seventy-fifth  year.  He  left  many  monuments  of 
himself  which  still  endure. 

At  Florence  he  built  the  convent  and  temple  of  St.  Mark ; 
the  temple  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  cloister  of  St.  Verdian. 


376  MEDICI. 

At  Fiesola,  that  of  St.  Jerome ;  in  Mugello,  the  temple  of  the 
young  brothers.  These^ere  public  edifices.  For  himself,  he 
built  the  palace  of  Riccardi,  in  the  city,  and  four  palaces,  at  dif- 
ferent places,  in  the  country.  He  adorned  the  churches  with 
statues,  paintings,  and  silver  vessels,  for  public  use.  He  built, 
also,  at  Jerusalem,  a  hospital  for  the  pilgrims.  But  none  of 
these  expenditures  were  public  money ;  it  was  all  his  own,  de- 
rived from  honorable  commerce.  His  grandson,  Lorenzo,  com- 
puted, that  Cosmo,  and  his  sons,  had  expended  between  1434 
and  1471,  for  public  uses,  charities,  and  gifts,  663,755  florins, 
which  may  be  computed,  at  the  present  value  of  money,  at  32 
millions  of  livres;  about  six  millions  of  dollars.  The  Flor- 
entines ordered  that  the  inscription  on  his  tomb  should  be,  the 

FATHER    OF    HIS    COUNTRY. 

The  days  of  "  wisdom  and  glory,"  in  Florence,  ended  with 
the  life  of  Cosmo  de  Medici.  Its  future  grandeur  is  to  be 
found,  not  in  the  republic,  but  in  the  splendor  of  Cosmo's  de- 
scendants, who  substituted  themselves  for  the  republic.  Sis- 
mondi  bestows  deserved  eulogy  on  the  citizens  of  Florence,  in 
the  times  which  had  passed,  and  renders  a  just  tribute  to  the 
spirit  of  liberty.  "How  could  so  small  a  state  endure  such 
heavy  losses?  How  could  a  single  city  produce  so  many  pow- 
erful and  illustrious  men  1  How  was  it  that  Florence  had  more 
historical  names  than  all  France  ?  That  every  one  of  its  citi- 
zens, who  were  seen  by  turns,  elevated  or  overthrown,  were 
better  known  in  Europe,  more  opulent,  and  more  really  power- 
ful than  a  peer  of  a  great  monarchy,  whose  landed  estates 
equalled,  perhaps,  the  whole  extent  of  the  Florentine  territory? 
What  was  it  that  united  the  lives  of  these  men  with  the  history 
of  human  civilization — covered  their  native  land  with  admira- 
ble monuments,  wherein  the  taste  and  magnificence  of  illus- 
trious citizens  surpassed  all  that  had  been  done  by  princes  and 
kings?  One  must  be  blind  to  all  these  prodigies,  if  he  cannot 
see  in  them  the  effect  of  liberty." 

By  what  means  liberty  was  lost  in  Florence,  is  an  interest- 
ing inquiry  to  all  who  are  free.  In  some  of  the  republics  of 
Italy,  it  was  lost  as  gradually  as  the  tide  steals  onward;  in 
others,  as  suddenly  as  the  torrents  rise  in  the  beds  of  its  rivers. 
The  knowledge  of  what  liberty  is,  and  consequently  the  deter- 
mination to  preserve  it,  was  insensibly  lost  by  the  majority  of 
the  Florentine  people.  The  wealth,  the  influence,  and  the  su- 
premacy of  Cosmo,  had  attracted  to  him  the  regard,  confidence 
and  affections  of  the  community.  He  probably,  did  not  intend 
to  destroy  the  republic,  by  accepting  voluntary  homage ;  but 


MEDICI.  377 

the  people  and  himself  corrupted  each  other.  He  died  in  the 
earnest  hope  that  the  Medici  would  be  to  his  country,  what  he 
had  been  himself.  Unfortunately,  they  had  all  his  ambition, 
but  neither  his  wisdom,  talents,  nor  patriotism.  The  extensive 
commercial  affairs  of  Cosmo  devolved  on  his  son  Piero,  but 
Piero  was  not  a  merchant.  The  management  of  the  state  de- 
volved on  him,  but  he  was  not  a  statesman.  Incessant  bodily 
affliction  prevented  all  personal  activity,  and  he  was  dependent 
on  transportation  in  a  litter,  whenever  he  moved  from  the  city 
to  the  country,  or  appeared  in  public.  There  were  many  among 
the  first  citizens,  who  desired  to  destroy  the  Medici  influence  in 
the  state,  and  who  considered  the  time  to  effect  their  object  to 
have  come.  Among  these  was  one  (Nerone)  on  whom  Piero 
placed  great  confidence.  This  person  was  consulted  by  Piero, 
who  advised  him  to  withdraw  from  commerce,  and  invest  his 
money  in  land.  This  advice  was  accepted,  and  numerous  debt- 
ors, at  home  and  abroad,  were  suddenly  called  on  to  discharge 
their  obligations ;  and,  in  cases  where  pledges  of  property  had 
been  made,  these  pledges  were  sold,  to  the  great  disadvantage 
of  the  debtors.  These  measures,  and  the  absence  of  all  quali- 
ties, necessary  to  hold  the  eminence  which  Cosmo  had  enjoyed, 
made  the  Florentines  indignant  at  Piero's  assumption  of  hered- 
itary prerogatives. 

Lucas  Pitti  was  the  ostensible  head  of  the  republic;  but  he 
was  not  qualified  to  sustain  himself  in  that  relation.  Though 
he  had  numerous  associates,  he  was  incapable  of  availing 
himself  of  their  support.  The  citizens  divided  into  hostile  and 
irreconcilable  parties,  among  which  were  the  ancient  families, 
who  regarded  the  Medici  as  new  men,  and  who  could  not  en- 
dure to  be  supplanted  by  one  so  little  entitled  to  consideration 
as  Piero.  In  this  state  of  feeling  at  Florence,  it  could  not  be 
long  before  the  parties  came  to  violence,  and  called  in  the  aid 
of  foreign  force.  The  opponents  of  Piero  were  defeated,  and 
many  distinguished  citizens  were  banished.  On  the  re-estab- 
lishment of  his  power,  Piero  caused  a  list  of  the  proscribed  to 
be  made  out,  in  doing  which  Pitti  was  supposed  to  have  fur- 
nished desired  information.  A  general  and  severe  persecution 
ensued.  Pitti,  suspected  by  all  parties,  disdained  by  the  tri- 
umphant one,  and  despised  by  the  republicans,  was  ruined  in 
character  and  estate.  His  magnificent  structure  of  a  palace  re- 
mained unfinished,  a  monument  of  his  pride  and  folly.  [Sis- 
mondi,  vol.  x.  p.  286.] 

There  were  illustrious  exiles  from  Florence  in  many  cities 
in  Europe,  not  only  from  the  recent  convulsions,  but  from  those 
32* 


378  MEDICI. 

of  former  times.  They  assembled  at  Venice.  A  very  serious 
war  ensued,  in  which  several  powers  engaged,  on  one  side  and 
the  other.  The  exiles  expended  all  their  wealth  in  sustaining 
this  war,  and  had  the  mortification  to  see  it  closed  by  treaties, 
in  which  no  provision  was  made  for  them;  they  had  only  ad- 
ded poverty  to  banishment  from  their  country. 

Though  triumphant  over  all  enemies,  the  increasing  infirmi- 
ties of  Piero  disabled  him  from  taking  an  active  part  in  public 
affairs.  The  state  was  governed  by  his  partisans,  but  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  call  forth  the  denunciations  of  Piero  himself. 
The  condition  of  Florence,  in  1469,  is  described  by  an  address 
of  Piero  to  his  assembled  friends,  as  copied  by  Sismondi  from 
a  contemporary  historian.  "  I  could  never  have  believed  that 
the  time  would  come,  when  the  morals,  and  the  acts  of  my 
friends,  would  make  me  regret  my  enemies;  or  the  fruits  of 
my  victory,  that  I  had  not  been  defeated.  I  thought  I  was  as- 
sociated with  men  who  would  set  some  bounds  to  their  cupidi- 
ty, and  who  would  be  contented  to  live  honored  by  their  coun- 
try, and  avenged  of  their  enemies  ;  but  I  now  see  how  much  I 
was  deceived ;  how  little  I  knew  the  human  heart,  and  your 
own  ambition.  It  does  not  satisfy  you  to  be  first,  to  be  princes 
in  a  great  city — to  engross  all  the  honors,  dignities,  and  advan- 
tages, which  heretofore  were  a  sufficient  recompense  to  the 
whole  mass  of  citizens.  Already  you  have  divided  among  you 
the  property  of  your  enemies,  while  you  have  cast  upon  others 
the  whole  of  the  public  burthens,  reserving  to  yourselves  the 
whole  of  the  public  benefits.  Even  this  does  not  content  you, 
if  you  cannot  load  your  fellow-citizens  with  every  kind  of  in- 
jury. You  despoil  your  neighbors  of  their  inheritance — you 
sell  justice — you  defend  yourselves  against  the  authority  of  the 
tribunals — you  depress  the  peaceable  to  exalt  the  insolent.  I 
do  not  believe  that  all  the  rest  of  Italy  could  present  such  ex- 
amples of  violence  and  avarice  as  are  gathered  in  this  city. 
But  hear  the  resolution  which  I  take  on  that  faith,  which  men 
of  honor  should  respect.  If  you  continue  to  conduct  your- 
selves in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  me  repent  of  my  victory,  I 
shall  know  how  to  conduct  myself  in  a  manner  which  will 
make  you  repent  of  your  success." 

This  admonition  had  no  effect.  The  remedy  contemplated 
was  to  recall  the  exiles ;  but  in  December,  of  the  same  year, 
(1469,)  Piero  died. 

Thomas  Soderini  was  left  at  the  head  of  the  state,  and  when 
the  accustomed  demonstrations  of  respect  were  tendered  to  him, 
fearful  of  exciting  jealousies,  he  turned  attention  to  the  sons  of 


MEDlCl.  379 

Piero,  as  the  persons  to  whom  these  demonstrations  were  due. 
He  suggested  that  it  was  much  easier  to  sustain  a  power  which 
thirty-five  years  had  made  familiar,  than  to  found  a  new  one. 
The  two  legitimate  sons  of  Piero  were  Lorenzo,  then  twenty- 
one  years,  and  Guiliano,  of  eleven  years  of  age.  Soderini  as- 
sembled the  principal  men  of  the  republic,  and  presented  these 
two  sons,  and  recommended  the  observance  towards  them  of 
the  consideration  which  their  house  had  so  long  held.  For 
several  years  the  young  Medici  took  no  part  in  state  affairs. 
They  employed  themselves  in  studies  and  amusements;  in 
making  their  abode  the  resort  of  the  learned,  and  of  artists ; 
and  in  gratifying  the  people  with  brilliant  spectacles. 

About  two  years  after  Piero's  death,  Galeaz  Sforza,  duke  of 
Milan,  who  had  made  himself  exceedingly  odious  to  his  sub- 
jects, came  to  visit  Florence,  with  his  wife  and  courtiers.  Two 
chariots,  ornamented  with  gold,  were  brought  over  the  Apen- 
nines, on  mules,  for  the  use  of  the  duchess ;  fifty  riding  horses 
for  her,  and  the  like  number  for  the  duke  ;  100  men  at  arms, 
and  500  foot  soldiers,  as  a  guard;  50  servants;  500  couples  of 
liunting  dogs,  and  a  great  number  of  falcons,  composed  his  ret- 
inue, with  all  the  splendor  of  royalty;  the  whole  number  of 
horses  2000.  The  sum  appropriated  to  this  parade  was  200,- 
000  florins,  or  about  450,000  dollars.  Lorenzo  received  the 
duke  in  his  palace,  as  a  guest,  and  displayed  his  own  magnif- 
icence, not  so  much  in  gold  and  diamonds  as  his  visiter  did, 
but  in  the  number  of  antique  monuments,  paintings,  and  stat- 
ues. The  city  entertained  the  duke's  followers,  at  its  own  ex- 
pense. Three  splendid  representations  of  events  in  the  Sa- 
viour's life  were  made,  in  three  different  churches,  in  one  of 
which  the  church  took  fire,  and  was  burnt.*  These  were  new 
scenes,  and  very  bad  examples,  to  the  Florentines,  whose  tenor 
of  life  had  been  that  of  industry  and  economy,  approaching  to 
austerity. 

From  the  year  1473,  to  1478,  no  events  occurred  in  Flor- 
ence of  sufficient  importance  to  be  noticed,  although  Ferdinand 
I.,  of  Naples,  pope  Sextus  IV.,  Milan  and  Venice,  were  re- 
spectively engaged  in  controversies  and  wars.  In  the  latter 
year  the  Medici  assumed  the  hereditary  distinction  in  the  re- 
public. The  government  of  the  city  was  subjected  to  their 
orders — individuals  were  condemned  without  trial — arbitrary- 
impositions  and  retroactive  laws,  were  made.  The  whole  finances 

*  The  first  Theatrical  representations  in  Europe,  were  of  events  re- 
corded in  the  scriptures. 


380  MEDICI. 

of  the  state  were  subject  to  the  control  of  the  Medici,  and 
were  sometimes  employed  to  sustain  their  commercial  houses; 
one  of  which,  at  Bruges,  (in  the  Netherlands,)  would  have  fail- 
ed, but  for  this  resource.  They  had  undertaken  to  follow  the 
course  of  their  grandfather  Cosmo,  in  the  business  of  bank- 
ers, without  giving  any  personal  attention  to  the  subject,  and 
without  being  competent  to  conduct  such  business,  if  they  had. 
Notwithstanding  the  eulogies  of  Roscoe  on  Lorenzo,  Sismondi 
says,  (vol.  xi.  pp.  78 — 9,)  that  the  Medici  marched  on  syste- 
matically to  tyranny,  sustained  by  the  powerful  families  who 
were  interested  to  support  them  ;  by  the  poets,  artists,  and  men 
of  letters,  who  lived  on  their  bounty;  and  by  the  low  populace 
whom  they  enchanted  with  feasts  and  spectacles.  Yet  there 
was  a  strong  party  of  the  most  considerate  citizens,  vehemently 
opposed  to  them.  Among  these  were  the  family  of  Pazzi,  of 
ancient  nobility,  who  had  been  admitted  to  the  rank  of  citi- 
zens. They  were  merchants,  and  far  more  opulent  than  the 
Medici.  It  was  this  family  that  Lorenzo  considered,  more  than 
any  other,  as  competent  to  rival  his  own.  His  grandfather 
Cosmo,  had  the  same  apprehensions  of  this  family,  and  endeav- 
ored to  gain  them  by  marrying  his  grand-daughter,  (sister  of 
Lorenzo,)  to  one  of  their  number.  Lorenzo  thought  it  more 
politic  to  ruin  them,  or,  at  least,  to  prevent  the  increase  of  their 
wealth.  One  of  the  Pazzi  had  married  the  heiress  of  an  im- 
mensely rich  man.  Lorenzo  caused  a  retroactive  application, 
in  this  case,  of  a  law,  whereby  the  property  of  an  intestate  fa- 
ther must  go  to  his  nephews,  to  the  exclusion  of  his  own 
daughter.  By  this  measure,  Lorenzo's  brother-in-law,  on  the 
death  of  his  wife's  father,  was  entirely  deprived  of  his  expected 
inheritance.  Besides  this,  all  the  family  of  Pazzi  were  exclud- 
ed from  any  share  in  the  government  of  the  city,  although 
there  were  nine  who  were  qualified  for  office.  Francis  Pazzi, 
the  oldest  of  the  brothers,  indignant  that  Lorenzo  thus  assumed 
a  supremacy  over  the  laws,  withdrew  to  Rome,  where  he  had 
a  commercial  house,  and  became  banker  to  pope  Sixtus  IV., 
preferred,  herein,  to  the  Medici.  Intimate  relations  arose  be- 
tween this  Pazzi  and  the  pope,  as  well  as  the  pope's  son-in-law, 
Jerome  Riario. 

There  were  many  circumstances  which  united  these  three 
persons  in  deadly  hostility  to  the  Medici.  Among  others,  the 
pope  had  appointed  one  Salvati  to  be  archbishop  of  Florence, 
whom  the  Medici  had  refused  to  receive.  The  consultation  of 
these  parties  embraced  all  the  modes  in  which  the  Medici 
could  be  assailed  ;  and  they  came  to  the  result,  that  none  other 


MEDICI.  381 

would  be  effectual  but  the  assassination  of  the  two  brothers,  at 
the  same  moment.  Salvati  was  informed  of  this  design,  and 
he,  with  Pazzi  and  Riario,  undertook  to  execute  it.  They 
gained  some  of  the  family  of  Pazzi  to  co-operate,  and  some  of 
them  absolutely  refused  to  engage  in  it.  Many  others,  from 
various  causes,  were  found  willing  to  become  parties,  including 
two  others  of  the  Salvati.  The  pope  had  made  a  nephew  of 
Jerome  Riario,  a  cardinal,  at  the  age  of  eighteen;  on  such 
occasions  festivals  were  usually  given.  It  was  so  managed 
that  the  young  cardinal  should  go  to  Florence,  where  several 
entertainments  were  given  to  him.  It  had  been  arranged  to 
assassinate  the  two  Medici  at  any  place  at  which  both  appear- 
ed, as  neither  of  them  could  be  safely  permitted  to  live  after 
the  other.  But  the  two  were  present  at  no  one  of  these  meet- 
ings. The  next  opportunity  was  at  the  cathedral,  where  the 
young  cardinal  was  to  attend  mass,  from  which  ceremony,  it 
was  supposed,  the  two  Medici  could  not  absent  themselves. 
Francis  des  Pazzi  and  Bernard  Bandini  had  undertaken  to 
kill  the  younger  Medici,  and  Jean  Baptiste  de  Montesecco,  to 
kill  Lorenzo.  But  Montesecco  objected  to  doing  this  act  in  a 
church,  and  during  divine  service,  though  he  was  perfectly 
willing  to  do  it  at  a  feast.  Two  priests  were  found  among  the 
conspirators  who  were  not  embarrassed  by  the  fear  of  commit- 
ting sacrilege,  and  they  undertook  the  service  which  Monte- 
secco had  declined. 

The  moment  selected  tor  the  assassination  was  at  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  host,  when  all  present  were  accustomed  to  bow. 
The  service  had  actually  begun,  but  Guiliano  de  Medici  was 
not  present.  The  two  who  were  to  murder  him,  went  to  find 
him,  and  to  convince  him  that  the  occasion  demanded  his 
presence.  He  accompanied  them  to  the  cathedral,  and  on  the 
way,  they,  as  in  playfulness,  put  their  arms  around  him  to 
ascertain  whether  he  had  on  a  cuirass,  which  they  knew  him 
to  be  accustomed  to  wear,  under  his  garments,  as  a  defence. 
He  had  not  even  the  sword  which  he  usually  wore,  having  a 
malady  in  his  leg,  which  made  the  wearing  it  troublesome. 
The  moment  had  come  when  the  act  was  to  be  done.  Ban- 
dini plunged  his  dagger  into  Guiliano's  bosom,  who  rose, 
made  some  steps,  and  fell.  Francis  des  Pazzi  fell  on  him, 
and  struck  many  furious  blows,  by  one  of  which  he  wounded 
himself  in  the  thigh.  At  the  same  moment  the  two  priests 
attacked  Lorenzo.  One  of  them  placed  his  hand  on  Lorenzo's 
shoulder,  intending  to  strike  him  in  the  neck,  and  did  inflict 
there  a  slight  wound  ;  but,  Lorenzo  rising,  disengaged  himself 


382  MEDICI. 

from  them,  drew  his  sword,  and  defended  himself  with  the  aid 
of  his  two  attendants.  The  two  priests  fled.  Bandini  ran 
towards  Lorenzo,  and  killed  one  person  who  attempted  to  stop 
him.  Meanwhile,  Lorenzo  had  fled  to  the  vestry  of  the 
church,  with  his  friends,  and  had  closed  the  doors. 

This  imperfect  accomplishment  of  an  attempt  to  destroy 
men  in  power,  had  the  usual  effect.  It  terrified  enemies,  com- 
bined friends,  and  established  the  usurpation  it  was  intended  to 
annihilate.  The  people  assigned  a  body-guard  of  twelve  men 
to  Lorenzo.  All  the  conspirators  were  detected.  Many  of 
them,  and  Salvati,  the  archbishop,  among  others,  were  hung 
at  the  windows  of  the  government  palace.  At  first,  the  people 
undertook  to  do  vengeance;  and,  afterwards,  Lorenzo  cleared 
the  city,  by  death  or  banishment,  of  all  whom  he  thought 
proper  to  include  among  the  conspirators.  The  family  of 
Pazzi  were  either  entirely  destroyed  or  made  harmless  to 
Lorenzo.  But  the  failure  of  the  conspirators  to  kill  him,  as 
well  as  Guiliano,  and  the  punishments  inflicted,  especially  the 
hanging  of  Salvati,  the  archbishop,  confirmed  the  pope  in  an 
implacable  enmity,  Florence,  and  especially  Lorenzo,  were 
made  to  feel  this  enmity  by  every  means  in  which  this  malig- 
nant pontiff  could  exercise  his  own  power  or  direct  that  of 
others.  He  did  not  deny  his  participation  in  the  design  of  the 
conspirators.  This  was  not  an  offence  in  the  tenant  of  the 
holy  chair  of  St.  Peter,  according  to  the  moral  law  of  Sixtus 
IV.  But  to  hang  an  archbishop  and  prelates,  for  murder, 
demanded  the  severest  denunciation.  Accordingly,  Florence 
and  all  its  inhabitants  were  visited  by  the  most  ample  excom- 
munication which  the  pope  could  express.  The  pope  and  the 
king  of  Naples  armed  themselves  against  Florence.  Milan 
was  involved  in  difficulties  which  deprived  Florence  of  its  aid. 
Venice  was  under  obligations  to  assist  Florence,  but  declined 
acting,  for  the  reason  that  it  was  not  held  to  take  part  in  a  war, 
carried  on,  not  against  the  state,  but  against  one  of  its  citizens. 

Lorenzo  was  obliged  to  admit  that  it  was  a  war  against 
him.  In  an  assembly  of  three  hundred  citizens,  he  declared 
himself  ready  to  submit  to  exile,  prison,  or  death,  if  his  coun- 
try thought  he  owed  it  such  sacrifice.  But,  at  the  same  time 
he  suggested,  that  the  prudence  and  perseverance  of  Florence 
were  alone  sufficient  to  resist  the  storm.  The  assembly  en- 
gaged to  sacrifice  their  lives  and  fortunes  in  his  defence.  An 
embassy  was  despatched  to  Louis  XI.  of  France,  to  engage 
him  on  the  side  of  Florence,  but  it  was  unavailing.  A  series 
of  unfortunate  measures  had  brought  great  distress  on  the 


MEDICI.  383 

Florentines  ;  and,  while  their  affairs  seemed  to  be  in  the  most 
discouraging  condition,  notice  came  to  them  on  the  24th  of 
November,  1479.  that  a  truce  had  been  signed  to  treat  of  terms 
of  peace.  Lorenzo  resolved  to  take  the  hazardous  measure 
of  going  to  Naples,  to  treat  with  Ferdinand  himself.  He 
hoped  to  satisfy  Ferdinand  that  he  would  consult  his  own  in- 
terests in  detaching  himself  from  the  pope,  and  in  preparing 
to  defend  himself  against  the  claims  of  the  king  of  France,  to 
his  own  kingdom,  under  the  asserted  rights  of  the  house  of 
Anjou.  Lorenzo  was  well  received  at  Naples.  After  long 
conferences  a  peace  was  agreed  on,  and  the  treaty  signed 
March  6,  1480.  He  returned,  and  was  received  at  Florence 
as  the  saviour  of  his  country.  Some  change  was  made  in  the 
form  of  government,  and  a  council  of  seventy  established ; 
composed,  however,  of  the  friends  of  Lorenzo.  This  council 
devoted  the  funds  of  the  state  to  pay  his  debts.  A  portion  of 
these  were  occasioned  by  his  excessive  pomp  and  extravagance 
at  Naples,  designed  for  political  effect,  for  himself  only,  while 
Florence  was  in  more  serious  distress  than  it  had  ever  before 
experienced. 

The  pope  continued  in  hostility  ;  but  the  landing  of  the 
Turks  in  the  following  July,  (1480,)  at  Otranto,  on  the  north- 
east coast  of  Italy,  (Otranto  is  the  province  on  the  south-east 
extremity  of  the  peninsula,)  alarmed  the  pope  and  forced  him 
to  make  peace.  It  was  exceedingly  humiliating  to  Florence. 
The  speech  of  the  pope  to  the  twelve  Florentine  ambassadors 
is  a  singular  compound  of  arrogance  and  pretended  piety. 
(Sismondi,  vol.  xi.  p.  197.)  This  invasion,  terrible  to  all 
Italy,  became  harmless  by  the  death  of  the  Sultan,  in  May, 
1481,  and  a  civil  war  which  arose  immediately  after,  between 
two  of  his  sons. 

For  some  years  the  events  of  Florence  are  without  interest. 
When  they  become  so,  in  1486,  it  is  seen  that  the  ancient 
policy  under  the  Albizzi  (which  had  made  the  people  of  that 
city  so  free,  prosperous,  and  happy  at  home,  and  so  respectable 
abroad)  had  been  supplanted  by  that  of  Lorenzo,  in  which  the 
republic  was  nothing,  and  himself  the  state.  He  had  extreme 
difficulty  in  satisfying  his  own  council  of  seventy,  that  it  was 
wise,  in  Florence,  to  ally  itself  with  Ferdinand  of  Naples  and 
with  Innocent  VIII.,  the  successor  of  Sixtus.  There  were 
yet  four  states  in  Italy  which  had  preserved  at  least  the  name 
of  republics,  Genoa,  Venice,  Lucca,  and  Sienna.  Not  one  of 
them  placed  the  least  confidence  in  the  political  cabinet  of 
Florence.      Intrigue  and  deception   were  always   expected. 


384  MEDICI. 

Lorenzo  was  displeased  that  these  republics  refused  to  con- 
sider him  as  any  thing  more  than  a  citizen,  while  the  pope, 
the  ducal  sovereigns,  and  the  king  of  Naples,  ascribed  to  him 
a  rank  little  inferior  to  royalty.  The  pope  considered  his 
alliance  to  be,  not  with  the  state  of  Florence,  but  with  the 
Medici.  A  marriage  was  contracted  between  the  son  of  the 
pope  and  the  daughter  of  Lorenzo:  and  when  Lorenzo's  son, 
Piero,  went  to  Milan  to  attend  a  wedding  of  the  duke's  son 
with  a  princess  of  Arragon,  the  Florentine  ambassadors,  des- 
patched in  honor  of  the  event,  were  regarded  as  secondary 
characters,  while  every  distinction  was  proffered  to  Piero. 
His  second  son,  Giovanni,  was  made  a  cardinal  at  the  age  of 
eighteen,  and  afterwards  became  pope.  During  all  this  time, 
Lorenzo  continued  to  be  a  banker  and  a  merchant,  but  through 
the  agency  of  others,  in  the  cities  of  the  east  and  of  the  west. 
But  his  agents  considered  themselves  to  be  rather  the  ministers 
of  a  great  prince,  than  the  factors  of  a  merchant.  The  for- 
tunes of  the  Medici  were  dissipated,  and  the  revenues  of  the 
state  covered  the  deficiency.  The  state  even  made  itself  bank- 
rupt, to  save  Lorenzo  from  becoming  so  himself.  (Sismondi, 
vol.  xi.  pp.  336,  337.)  The  public  policy  of  Lorenzo  was 
unfavorable  to  his  country,  and  facilitated,  instead  of  impeding 
the  invasions,  the  convulsions,  and  the  wars  in  which  all  Italy 
soon  lost  even  the  name  of  liberty.  Early  in  1492,  Lorenzo 
sank  under  the  hereditary  infirmities  of  his  family,  (the  gout,) 
in  connexion  with  a  slow  fever.  A  very  suitable  sort  of  med- 
icine was  administered  to  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  consisting 
of  a  decomposition  (in  some  liquid)  of  pearls  and  precious 
stones. 

At  this  time,  a  person  named  Savonarala,  a  native  of  Padua, 
had  appeared  at  Florence,  who  thought  himself  inspired,  and 
specially  commissioned  to  reform  the  morals  of  prelates  and  of 
laity.  His  preaching  had  produced  a  great  effect  on  the  latter. 
Lorenzo  sent  for  him,  and  desired  absolution  at  his  hands. 
Savonarala  asked  whether  he  had  entire  faith  in  the  mercy  of 
God  1  Lorenzo  said  he  had.  The  next  inquiry  was,  whether 
he  was  ready  to  restore  all  the  goods  which  he  had  unjustly 
acquired  1  After  some  hesitation,  Lorenzo  answered  he  was. 
The  last  inquiry  was,  whether  Lorenzo  would  re-establish  Flo- 
rentine liberty,  and  the  popular  government  of  a  republic?  Lo- 
renzo absolutely  refused  to  submit  to  this  condition;  and  dis- 
missed Savonarala  without  having  received  absolution.*     Lo- 

*  Sismondi,  ch.  xii.  p.  69.  The  account  of  the  same  scene  is  found  in 
Roscoe,  vol.  ii.'p.  235.    The  two  statements  are  dissimilar. 


MEDICI.  385 

renzo  died  at  his  country  seat  on  the  eighth  of  April,  1492,  in 
the  forty-fourth  year  of  his  age. 

In  these  sketches  Sismondi  has  been  the  guide,  and,  it  is  be- 
lieved, a  very  safe  one.  He  not  only  refers  to  the  many  contem- 
poraneous historians  of  Italy,  but  there  is  an  accordance  in  the 
general  tenor  of  events  (generally  received)  with  Sismondi's 
views  of  Lorenzo,  as  a  man,  and  as  a  statesman.  But  William 
Roscoe,  the  biographer  of  Lorenzo,  had  very  different  views 
of  this  eminent  Florentine.  This  was  not  unknown  to  Sis- 
mondi, who  points  out,  in  many  places,  the  errors,  as  he  under- 
stands them  to  be,  in  Roscoe's  history.*  Whoever  takes  the 
labor  of  following  out  Sismondi,  will  probably  agree  with  him 
in  his  summary  of  Lorenzo's  character: — "Whatever  may 
have  been  Lorenzo's  ability,  it  is  not  as  a  statesman  that  he  is 
to  be  placed  in  the  rank  of  the  great  men  of  whom  Italy  may 
be  justly  proud.  Such  honor  belongs  only  to  those,  who,  ele- 
vating their  views  above  personal  interests,  secure,  by  the  labor 
of  their  Hves,  the  peace,  the  glory,  or  the  liberty  of  their  coun- 
try. Lorenzo  pursued,  almost  invariably,  a  policy  entirely  self- 
ish. He  sustained  a  usurped  power  by  bloody  executions. 
He  pressed  more  and  more  heavily  a  detested  yoke  on  a  free 
city.  He  took  from  the  magistrates  the  authority  which  the 
constitution  warranted,  and  turned  his  fellow-citizens  from  that 
public  career  in  which  they  had  developed  so  much  of  talent. 
His  policy  terminated,  at  a  future  day,  in  the  establishment  of 
the  tyranny  of  Alessandro  de  Medici.  It  was  by  the  active 
and  enlightened  protection  of  the  arts,  of  letters,  and  of  philoso- 
phy, that  he  merited  to  have  his  name  associated  with  the  most 
brilliant  period  of  the  literary  history  of  Italy.  Yet  he  was  not 
a  superior  man,  either  as  poet,  philosopher,  or  artist;  but  he 
had  a  perception  so  lively,  so  fine,  and  so  just,  that  he  could  put 
others  on  the  route  which  he  could  not  follow  himself." 

Such  is  Sismondi's  opinion ;  and  he  very  justifiably  accounts 
for  the  opinions  of  Roscoe,  by  assuming  that  they  were  drawn 
from  the  writings  of  personal  friends,  who  were  indebted  to 
their  patron,  almost  for  existence.  Lorenzo  assumed  to  take 
on  himself  the  government  of  Florence,  in  its  internal  and  ex- 
ternal affairs.  The  delightful  intercourse  between  himself  and 
his  friends,  in  his  palaces,  and  his  enchanting  retreats  in  the 
country,  is  not  the  measure  of  his  merits.     But  the  condition 

*  Histoire  des  Republiques  Italiennes,  du  moyen  age,  par  J.  C.  L.  Si- 
monde  de  Sismondi,  (new  edition,  revised  and  corrected ;  and  printed  at 
Paris,  1826.) 

33 


386  MEDICI. 

of  Florence,  before,  during,  and  after  the  time  of  Lorenzo,  fur- 
nishes the  facts  wherefrom  to  judge  whether  impartial  history- 
should  applaud  or  reproach  him.  After  studying  Sismondi,  it 
is  difficult  to  perceive  the  justice  of  the  following  summary,  in 
all  its  parts,  taken  from  the  sixth  edition  of  Roscoe's  life  of  Lo- 
renzo, (London,  1825,)  page  70,  vol.  1  : — 

"  Tall  in  his  stature,  robust  in  his  form,  Lorenzo  had,  in  his 
person,  more  the  appearance  of  strength  than  of  elegance. 
From  his  birth  he  labored  under  some  peculiar  disadvantages; 
his  sight  was  weak,  his  voice  harsh  and  unpleasing,  and  he 
Was  totally  deprived  of  the  sense  of  smell.  With  all  these  de- 
fects, his  countenance  was  dignified,  and  strongly  indicated  the 
magnanimity  of  his  character  ;  and  the  effects  of  his  eloquence 
were  conspicuous  on  many  important  occasions.  Such  was 
the  versatility  of  his  talents  that  it  is  difficult  to  discover  any 
department  of  business,  or  of  amusement,  of  art,  or  of  science, 
to  which  they  were  not,  at  some  time,  applied  ;  and  in  whatever 
he  undertook,  he  aimed  at  a  proficiency  which  would  seem  to 
have  required  the  labor  of  a.  life  much  longer  than  that  which 
he  was  permitted  to  enjoy." 

Roscoe  has  presented  only  one  view  of  Lorenzo  in  which  he 
is  sustained  by  other  historians,  that  of  an  accomplished,  well- 
informed,  liberal  gentleman,  within  his  own  walls.  Hallam's 
opinion  (vol.  1.  p.  294)  is  much  more  conformable  to  that  of 
Sismondi.  "As  a  patriot,  we  never  can  bestow  upon  Lorenzo 
de  Medici,  the  meed  of  disinterested  virtue.  He  completed  that 
subversion  of  the  Florentine  republic,  which  his  two  immedi- 
ate ancestors  had  so  well  prepared.  The  two  councils  (her 
regular  legislature)  he  superseded  by  a  permanent  senate  of 
seventy  persons ;  while  the  gonfalonier,  and  the  priors  (be- 
came a  mockery  and  pageant,  to  keep  up  the  illusion  of  liberty) 
were  taught,  that  in  exercising  a  legitimate  authority,  without 
the  sanction  of  their  prince,  (a  name  now  first  heard  at  Flor- 
ence,) they  incurred  the  risk  of  punishment  for  their  audacity. 
Even  the  total  dilapidation  of  commercial  wealth  was  repaired 
at  the  cost  of  the  state,  and  the  republic  disgracefully  screened 
the  bankruptcy  of  the  Medici,  by  her  own."  After  these  re- 
marks of  Hallam,  one  cannot  read  without  disapprobation  these 
words  of  Roscoe,  (vol.  2.  p.  240.  chap.  X.)  "  It  was  not  by  the 
continuance,  but  by  the  dereliction  of  the  system  which  he 
had  established,  and  to  which  he  adhered,  during  the  continu- 
ance of  his  life,  that  the  Florentine  republic  sunk  under  the 
degrading  yoke  of  despotic  power." 

Lorenzo's  oldest  son,  Piero,  was  not  twenty-one,  and  there- 


MEDICI.  387 

fore  not  qualified  to  hold  any  office.  This  disability  was  re- 
moved by  altering  the  law,  and  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  state.  He  considered  himself  to  have  succeeded  to  an  he- 
reditary sovereignty.  Among  his  first  measures  was  the  ar- 
raignment, as  criminals,  of  two  of  his  young  cousins,  descend- 
ed from  the  brother  of  Cosmo.  They  had  not  committed  any 
offence,  nor  taken  any  part  in  public  affairs ;  bat  that  branch  of 
the  family  had  become  exceedingly  rich,  by  commerce,  and 
Piero  apprehended  that  they  might  rival  him.  They  were  ex- 
iled. 

At  this  time  it  was  known  in  Italy,  that  Charles  VIII.,  of 
France,  intended  to  possess  himself  of  the  kingdom  of  Naples, 
and  might  soon  be  expected.  On  this  occasion,  Piero  disclosed 
his  natural  insolence  and  vanity,  and  his  incapacity  to  sustain 
himself  as  the  successor  of  Lorenzo.  When  Charles  had 
crossed  the  Apennines,  and  was  at  Lucca,  Florence  sent  am- 
bassadors to  treat  with  him.  Piero  was  one  of  them;  but, 
arriving  first,  he  assumed  to  surrender  several  fortresses,  and 
to  bind  Florence  to  pay  a  large  sum,  taking  nothing  in  return, 
but  the  verbal  promise  of  the  French  monarch  that  he  would 
give  up  these  fortresses  when  he  had  conquered  Naples.  The 
other  ambassadors  intended  to  make  Charles  purchase  the 
privilege  of  passing  through  the  territory  of  Florence.  When 
they  arrived,  and  were  informed  of  what  Piero  had  done,  they 
were  much  incensed,  and  sent  this  information  to  Florence, 
where  it  produced  a  high  excitement.  On  Piero's  return  to  the 
city,  he  was  denied  admission  to  the  governmental  palace,  ex- 
cluded from  the  city,  and  compelled  to  fly.  Instead  of  going 
to  Charles  he  went  to  Bologna.  A  price  was  set  upon  his 
head.  All  who  were  still  living,  of  the  many  exiles  from 
Florence,  in  former  revolutions,  and  prosecutions,  were  in- 
vited to  return.  The  houses  of  Medici  were  pillaged  by  the 
populace,  with  the  exception  of  the  palace  in  the  city,  which 
was  reserved  as  an  abode  for  Charles  VIIL,  on  his  arrival. 
But  when  the  French  came,  that  was  pillaged  by  them.  The 
precious  collections  which  had  been  made  by  Cosmo,  Piero, 
and  Lorenzo,  in  three  generations,  were  taken  by  the  French, 
to  the  satisfaction  of  their  cupidity ;  and  all  that  remained 
were  sold  by  public  authority.  Nothing  remained  of  the 
Cosmo  branch  of  the  family,  but  the  buildings  which  they  had 
erected ;  and  all  the  members  of  that  branch  were  exiled,  for- 
ever, from  Florence.  [1494-1  The  two  cousins  whom  young 
Piero  had  exiled,  returned ;  and,  desiring  to  annihilate  all  re- 
membrance of  their  connexion  with  the  Medici,  they  changed 


388  MEDICI. 

the  arms  of  the  family,  abandoned  the  name,  and  assumed  that 
of  Popolani. 

A  new  government  was  instituted,  and  new  ambassadors 
sent  to  Charles;  and  among  them  the  same  priest,  Savonarala, 
who  addressed  Charles  as  a  person  sent  by  divine  orders  to 
punish  and  reform.  Charles  understood  nothing  of  the  priests 
harangue,  and  only  answered  that  when  he  came  to  Florence 
he  should  make  satisfactory  arrangements.  This  meeting  was 
at  Pisa,  which  had  been  87  years  subjected  to  Florence.  The 
Pisans  besought  Charles  to  restore  them  to  liberty,  and  with- 
out considering  that  this,  was  a  matter  in  which  he  could  not  in- 
terpose, he  answered  that  he  should  be  content  to  see  their  lib- 
erty restored  to  them.  This  was  taken,  by  the  Pisans,  as  a 
restoration,  in  fact,  and  every  emblem  of  Florentine  authority 
was  destroyed,  and  a  commission  raised  to  form  the  republic 
anew.  Leaving  the  Pisans  in  possession  of  their  city,  and  a 
French  garrison  in  the  citadel,  Charles  proceeded  with  his  ar- 
my to  Florence,  and  entered  Nov.  17,  1494.  This  body  of 
soldiery  from  beyond  the  Alps,  so  different  from  all  that  the 
Florentines  had  before  seen,  terrified  them  ;  nor  did  they  know 
whether  they  were  only  visited,  or  conquered.  The  French 
were  not  disposed  to  come  to  blows,  and  the  Florentines  had 
made  no  preparation  for  such  an  event.  Negotiations  ensued, 
in  which  Charles  limited  himself  to  a  demand  of  money,  but 
so  exorbitant  that  it  was  refused.  The  final  proposition  of  the 
French  was  reduced  to  writing,  and  read  to  Piero  Capponi,  the 
Florentine  secretary,  who  snatched  it  from  the  Frenchman's 
hand  and  tore  it  in  pieces.  "  If,"  said  Capponi,  "  it  has  come  to 
this,  blow  your  trumpets,  and  we  will  ring  our  bells."  This 
firmness  moderated  the  demands  of  Charles,  which  came  down 
to  100,000  florins,  (equal  to  222,000  dollars.)  Charles  stipu- 
lated to  restore  fortresses,  and  effected  some  arrangement  as  to 
the  Pisans — granted  some  commercial  privileges,  in  France. 
The  Florentines  agreed  to  withdraw  the  price  on  the  heads  of 
the  Medici.     Charles  then  departed  for  Sienna. 

Florence,  left  to  itself,  attempted  to  establish  a  new  govern- 
ment. Savonarala  had  become  a  great  man,  and  had  his  par- 
ty. He  was  for  pure  religion,  sound  morals,  and  political  lib- 
erty ;  and,  consequently,  for  a  popular  government.  Opposed 
to  this  party,  was  the  Medici  party,  in  principle,  though  not  in 
name,  who  desired  a  government  which  excluded  the  people, 
and  vested  power  in  a  small  number.  The  third  party  was  that 
of  the  Medici,  strictly,  who  dared  not  to  disclose  their  views. 
After  seven  months  of  conference,  Florence  adopted  an  execu* 


MEDICI.  389 

tive  power,  which  was  to  be  counselled  by  an  assembly  of 
eighty,  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  was  to  be  represented 
by  an  elected  body  of  eighteen  hundred  citizens,  who  could  prove 
that  their  ancestors  had  enjoyed  the  honors  of  the  state.  Sa- 
vonarala,  though  an  ecclesiastic,  had  an  important  agency  in 
these  political  affairs,  and  formed  the  opinions  of  a  greater 
number  than  any  other  individual. 

Piero  de  Medici  was,  meanwhile,  engaged  in  attempting  to 
replace  himself  by  the  aid  of  foreign  powers,  and  in  maintain- 
ing a  connexion  with  his  partisans  in  the  city.  A  plot  was 
discovered,  and  some  highly  respectable  citizens  were  executed. 
These  events  caused  great  popular  excitement,  and  threatened 
a  civil  war. 

The  enthusiast  Savonarala  continued  his  popular  harangues, 
and  gave  great  offence  to  pope  Alexander  VI.  and  his  sons 
and  cardinals.  He  also  offended  many  of  the  Florentines  by 
his  arrogance  and  by  his  condemnation  of  their  morals  and 
habits.  The  pope  found  it  necessary  to  send  a  preacher  of  his 
own  to  Florence,  to  counteract  Savonarala.  These  two  com- 
petitors were  not  able  to  settle  their  pretensions  by  eloquence 
and  preaching,  and  a  miracle  only  could  settle  the  controversy. 
Savonarala  was  a  Dominican,  his  adversaries  were  Francis- 
cans ;  and  several  partisans  on  each  side  were  willing  to  test 
the  truth  by  passing  through  fire.  A  stage  was  erected  on  a 
public  square,  and  two  piles  of  combustibles  were  placed  there- 
on, each  of  them  eighty  feet  long,  four  wide,  and  five  feet 
high,  separated  from  each  other  so  as  to  leave  a  passage  way 
of  eighty  feet  in  length  and  two  in  width.  Through  this 
passage  way  the  opponents  were  to  pass,  when  the  two  piles 
were  fully  ignited.  Two  champions  appeared  to  submit  to 
this  peril.  Such  an  ascendancy  had  been  gained  by  Savona- 
rala, and  so  much  apprehension  was  had  of  his  power,  that  his 
representative  was  not  allowed  to  ascend  the  stage  in  the  dress 
he  came  into  the  square  with,  but  was  entirely  changed,  in 
this  respect,  by  a  new  dress,  in  which  there  could  not  be  any 
secret  protection.  Savonarala  put  into  the  hand  of  his  deputy 
the  materials  and  the  emblems  of  the  sacrament,  as  a  security 
against  the  effect  of  the  flames.  To  this  the  other  party  ob- 
jected ;  and  on  this  point,  as  obstinately  insisted  upon,  on  one 
side,  as  objected  to  on  the  other,  the  day  was  wasted  in  dis- 
putes, and  the  miracle  was  neither  wrought  nor  attempted. 
This  was  a  fatal  blow  to  the  power  of  Savonarala.  Means 
were  found  to  cause  him  to  be  tried  as  an  impostor,  and  to 
prove  him  to  be  such,  he  was  subjected  to  torture.  In  his 
33* 


392  NAPLES    AND    SICILY. 

east,  and  that  of  Calabria  on  the  south,  the  latter  extending  to 
the  straits  which  separate  Italy  from  the  island  of  Sicily.  In 
the  year  1127,  Roger,  the  son  of  the  Norman  of  the  same 
name,  who  conquered  Sicily,  united  all  these  territories  into 
one  kingdom.  The  population  was  composed  of  the  descend- 
ants of  Greeks,  Romans,  and  Saracens ;  and  to  these  were 
added  the  Norman  French,  which  had  come  into  Sicily  with 
the  adventurers  of  that  name,  about  the  middle  of  the  preced- 
ing century.  The  land  was  held  by  feudal  barons,  and  the 
principal  part  of  the  population  were  vassals,  under  the  feudal 
tenure.  " 

The  political  and  social  condition  of  this  country,  from  1127 
to  1516,  depended  on  the  accidents  of  marriages,  births,  inher- 
itance, gifts  by  will,  usurpations  and  conquests.  No  country 
in  Europe  was  subjected  to  a  greater  variety  of  masters  in  the 
same  space  of  time,  nor  was  any  one  more  miserable.  Yet 
the  kingdoms  of  Sicily  and  Naples  are,  by  nature,  one  of  the 
most  desirable  portions  of  the  earth. 

Roger  was  harassed  during  his  reign  by  the  turbulence  of 
his  barons,  and  by  a  war  with  the  emperor  Lotharius,  insti- 
gated by  a  papal  contention.  Roger  died  in  1154.  He  is 
reputed  to  have  been  able,  to  have  had  military  talents,  and  to 
have  known  that  respect  was  due  to  learning  and  to  learned 
men ;  but  also  to  have  been  rapacious,  vindictive,  and  singu- 
larly cruel  in  the  punishments  which  he  inflicted.  His  son, 
William  the  Bad,  reigned  till  1166.  A  person  of  low  origin, 
named  Mayon,  whom  William  had  raised  to  high  offices,  con- 
spired with  a  bishop  to  dethrone  him  ;  and  this  person  was  to 
usurp  the  crown,  and  the  bishop  was  to  receive  a  suitable 
reward.  Mayon  having  arrived  near  enough  to  his  object  to 
have  no  further  need  of  the  bishop,  caused  a  slow  poison  to  be 
administered  to  him.  The  bishop  discovering  the  nature  of 
his  malady,  and  not  doubting  its  origin,  availed  himself  of 
a  friendly  visit  from  Mayon,  to  cause  him  to  be  assassinated, 
and  thus  had  the  pleasure  of  being  preceded,  a  few  hours,  by 
his  perfidious  associate  in  crime.  William  left  his  crown  to 
his  son  of  the  same  name,  a  minor,  under  the  regency  of  his 
mother.  The  great  mistake  of  this  reign  was  the  giving  of 
Constantia,  a  daughter  of  Roger  I.,  and  aunt  of  this  William 
II.,  in  marriage  to  Henry  VI.,  emperor  of  Germany.  This 
event  led  to  long  and  ruinous  wars,  in  which  Henry  and  Tan- 
cred  contended  for  the  crown,  on  the  decease  of  William. 
Tancred  was  an  illegitimate  son  of  an  older  brother  of  Wil- 
liam, who  died  in  the  life-time  of  his  father.     Thus,  the  people 


NAPLES    AND    SICILY.  393 

of  Naples  and  Sicily  were  to  endure  the  evils  of  war,  to  settle 
the  point  whether  the  bastard  of  a  deceased  prince,  or  a  Ger- 
man who  dwelt  beyond  the  Alps,  should  be  their  master.  The 
latter  prevailed,  and  in  the  year  1195,  the  crown  which  the 
Normans  had  won,  and  the  power  which  they  had  maintained 
for  one  hundred  and  twenty  years,  passed  by  a  marriage,  to 
the  princes  of  the  German  house  of  Suabia. 

The  House  of  Suabia  from  1196  to  1266.  Henry  VI.  died, 
leaving-  the  crown  of  Naples  and  Sicily  to  his  minor  son, 
Frederick  L,  and  the  same  who  is  known  as  Frederick  II. 
among  the  emperors  of  Germany,  and  who  has  been  already 
noticed  in  the  sketches  of  Germany.  His  wife  Zolanda,  was 
the  heiress  of  the  Christian  crown  of  Jerusalem,  derived  from 
the  crusaders,  who  established  a  kingdom  there;  whence 
Frederick  entitled  himself  king  of  Jerusalem.  This  fact  is 
noticed,  because  this  claim  to  the  title  was  transmitted  through 
centuries,  as  an  appendage  to  the  Neapolitan  crown.  Naples 
was  made  the  capital,  or  seat  of  government,  by  Frederick. 
He  left  a  legitimate  son  Conrad,  and  one  who  was  not  so, 
Manfrede;  and  devised  his  kingdom  to  the  latter,  if  the  former 
died  without  heirs.  Conrad  died  in  four  years,  and  Manfrede, 
assuming  that  Conradin,  the  son  of  Conrad,  had  died  in  Ger- 
many, claimed  the  crown.  But  pope  Innocent  IV.  claimed 
Sicily,  because  Conrad  died  excommunicated ;  and  Naples, 
because  his  legate  had  been  sent  thither  with  an  armed  force, 
and  had  exacted  an  oath  of  allegiance  from  the  people.  War 
ensued,  in  which  the  pope  took  an  active  part.  He  assumed 
to  bestow  the  kingdom  of  Naples  and  Sicily  on  the  prince 
Charles  of  Anjou,  son  of  Louis  VIII.,  king  of  France.  This 
prince  appeared  in  Italy  with  an  army,  and  was  met  by  Man- 
frede. A.  bloody  battle  ensued,  and  Manfrede  was  slain. 
Pope  Urban  IV.  crowned  the  prince  of  Anjou,  king,  in  the 
year  1266.  In  the  following  year,  Conradin  appeared  with 
an  army  from  German}'-,  and  had  entered  Italy  before  he  re- 
ceived notice  from  the  pope,  that  he  was  forbidden  to  attempt 
the  recovery  of  Naples,  on  pain  of  excommunication.  This 
threat  diminished  the  number  of  Conradin's  followers;  but  he 
persevered,  in  the  expectation  of  finding  new  adherents  as  he 
approached  Naples.  The  adverse  parties  met  near  Benevento, 
thirty-five  miles  north-east  of  Naples.  A  desperate  battle  en- 
sued, which  resulted  favorably  for  Charles.  Conradin  and 
his  young  friend  Frederick,  prince  of  Austria,  were  taken  and 
beheaded.  Neither  of  them  were  then  seventeen  years  of  age. 
The  youthful  friends   embraced  each  other  on  the  scaffold. 


394  NAPLES    AND    SICILY. 

Frederick's  head  having  fallen,  Conradin  took  it  up  and  kissed 
it,  and  then  presented  his  own  to  the  executioner.  While  on 
the  scaffold,  Conradin  addressed  the  multitude,  and  threw  down 
his  glove,  desiring  that  it  might  be  taken  up  by  any  one  who 
would  become  his  avenger.  It  is  also  said  that  Conradin 
named  Peter,  king  of  Arragon,  when  he  threw  down  his  glove ; 
and  that  it  was  taken  up  and  carried  to  Peter  by  an  Arragonese 
knight.  Thus  in  the  year  1268,  the  kingdom  of  Naples  and 
Sicily  passed  from  the  German  House  of  Suabia,  to  the  French 
House  of  Anjou,  in  the  person  of  Charles  I.  In  1278,  he  had 
acquired  the  title  to  the  crown  of  Jerusalem,  through  a  person 
called  Mary  of  Antioeh. 

Charles  soon  acquired,  and  deservedly,  the  surname  of  Ty- 
rant of  the  two  Sicilies.  He  received  and  employed  multitudes 
of  Frenchmen,  and  they  were  permitted  to  rule  without  re- 
straint, and  to  subject  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  to  every 
oppression  and  indignity.  A  day  of  severe  retribution  was  at 
hand,  through  the  persevering  industry  of  one  man,  who  is 
historically  known  as  John  of  Procida.  This  person  was  the 
feudal  lord  of  a  small  island  in  the  bay  of  Naples,  and  a 
zealous  partizan  of  the  house  of  Suabia.  Jt)hn  having  dis- 
guised himself  as  a  monk,  went  to  Sicily,  to  Rome,  to  Spain, 
and  even  to  Constantinople,  to  combine  the  enemies  of  Charles. 
At  this  time,  Peter  II.  was  the  king  of  Arragon,  and  he  had 
married  Constantia,  the  daughter  of  Manfrede,  whom  Charles 
had  despoiled  of  his  throne.  The  unfortunate  Conradin,  and 
Constantia,  were  cousins,  descended  from  the  emperor  Fred- 
erick II.  John  of  Procida  influenced  Peter,  by  appealing  to 
his  sense  of  justice  and  duty,  in  having  been  called  on  by 
Conradin,  from  the  scaffold,  to  avenge  his  -wrongs.  It  is 
probable  that  more  powerful  motives  engaged  Peter  to  promise 
a  body  of  troops  to  sustain  John  in  his  intended  revolt  in  Sicifef. 
All  the  people  of  Sicily  were  subjected  to  the  despotism  of  the 
French,  and  were  ready  for  any  measure,  however  desperate, 
that  promised  relief.  John  had  been  successfully  industrious 
in  promoting  the  hope  of  this  relief,  and  the  desire  of  ven- 
geance. On  Easter  day,  in  the  year  1282,  at  the  sound  of  the 
bell  which  summoned  the  pious  to  the  evening  prayers,  called 
vespers,  the  inhabitants  of  Palermo  rose  upon  the  French,  and 
pursued  their  purpose  until  every  French  person,  and  even  all 
Sicilians  who  had  intermarried  with  the  French,  were,  with- 
out exception,  put  to  death.  The  same  fate  awaited  all  the 
French  who  were  scattered  throughout  the  island,  with  a 
single  exception.     William  de  Porcelet,  a  French  nobleman 


NAPLES    AND    SICILY.  395 

from  Provence,  and  governor  of  a  small  town  in  Sicily,  in 
consideration  of  his  virtues  and  probity,  was  spared,  and  al- 
lowed to  depart  with  his  family  to  his  own  country.  The 
whole  number  of  French  who  perished,  is  computed  at  more 
than  eight  thousand ;  and  this  memorable  event  is  known  by 
the  name  of  "  Sicilian  vespers." 

The  exasperated  Charles  gathered  his  forces,  and  proceeded 
to  Sicily,  to  take  vengeance  on  the  assassins  of  his  countrymen. 
But  Peter  of  Arragon  was  there  before  him,  for  the  purpose  of 
despoiling  him  of  this  part  of  his  dominions.  In  the  fleet 
which  Charles  sent  against  Sicily,  was  his  son,  called  the 
prince  of  Palermo.  In  a  naval  battle  between  this  fleet  and 
that  of  Peter,  the  prince  was  taken  prisoner,  and  most  of  his 
vessels  taken  or  destroyed.  Charles  had  detained,  in  prison, 
Beatrice,  the  daughter  of  Manfrede,  with  her  mother  and 
brother.  She  had  survived  both  of  them  in  prison.  The 
Arragonese  admiral  brought  the  prince  of  Palermo  near  to 
Naples,  and  gave  notice  to  Charles  that  unless  Beatrice  was 
immediately  sent  to  him,  the  head  of  the  prince  would  be  forth- 
with severed  from  his  body.  Beatrice  was  given  up,  and  the 
prince  was  carried  away  as  a  prisoner.  Three  years  after- 
wards, (in  1285,)  Charles,  having  met  with  incessant  reverses 
and  afflictions,  died  of  chagrin ;  one  historian  intimates,  by 
suicide. 

Sicily  was  separated  from  Naples  in  1282,  and  passed  under 
the  dominion  of  the  Spanish,  or  Arragonese  princes,  and  con- 
tinued separated  from  Naples,  until  1435.  The  notices  of 
Sicily  will,  therefore,  be  suspended  here,  until  those  of  Naples 
are  brought  down  to  the  last  mentioned  year. 

The  prince  of  Palermo  continued  a  prisoner  four  years  after 
his  father's  death.  He  was  then  liberated,  on  marrying  a 
daughter  of  his  captor,  (Peter  of  Arragon,)  and  renouncing  all 
claim  to  Sicily,  in  favor  of  Peter's  son.  The  prince  then  re- 
turned to  Naples,  and  reigned  there,  under  the  name  of  Charles 
II.,  till  the  year  1309.  His  oldest  son,  Charles  Martel,  was 
elected  king  of  Hungary,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Char- 
obert,  while  Naples  was  given  to  Robert,  the  second  son,  whom 
some  historians  call  "good"  and  "wise."  A  son  of  Robert 
died,  in  his  life-time,  leaving  a  daughter  Joan,  who  was  the 
heiress  of  the  crown  of  Naples.  Robert  fearing  that  the  Hun- 
garian branch  of  the  family  might  pretend  to  Naples,  effected 
a  marriage  between  Andrew,  the  grandson  of  his  brother 
Charles  Martel,  (king  of  Hungary,)  and  his  granddaughter 
Joan.     Andrew  proved  to  be  a  coarse  and  vulgar  man,  while 


396  NAPLES    AND    SICILY. 

Joan  had  received  every  degree  of  cultivation  which  that  age 
permitted.  Robert,  by  his  will,  excluded  Andrew  from  the 
throne,  and  vested  the  exclusive  right  in  Joan.  The  attempt 
to  have  Andrew  crowned,  resulted  in  a  conspiracy,  in  which 
Andrew  was  strangled.  Joan  was  suspected  and  accused  of 
being  a  party  in  the  murder;  but  she  was  acquitted  by  a  tribu- 
nal formed  at  Avignon  in  France,  (then  the  papal  seat,)  where- 
in the  facts  are  said  to  have  been  fairly  investigated.  If  Joan 
did  not  order,  nor  assent  to  the  murder  before  it  occurred,  her 
subsequent  conduct  showed  that  it  was  not  unwelcome  to  her. 
At  the  age  of  nineteen,  she  married  the  prince  of  Tarentum, 
and  survived  him  when  she  was  thirty-six  years  of  age. 
(1362.)  She  afterwards  married  a  prince  of  Majorca,  who  is 
supposed  to  have  fallen  in  battle  in  1370.  The  queen  having 
no  heir,  and  desiring  to  exclude  the  Hungarian  branch,  of 
whom  her  first  husband  was  one,  concluded  to  make  Charles 
of  Durazzo  her  heir,  who  had  married  Margaret,  the  daughter 
of  her  sister  Mary.  After  publishing  this  intended  heirship, 
Joan  married  Otho,  duke  of  Brunswick.  Charles,  aided  by 
his  Hungarian  relations,  attempted  to  take  the  kingdom  by 
force.  Joan  retracted  the  heirship  of  Charles,  and  gave  her 
kingdom  and  her  inheritance  of  Provence,  in  France,  to  her 
kinsman,  Louis  of  Anjou.  But  Charles  of  Durazzo,  who  was 
already  in  possession  of  Naples,  and  who  held  Joan  as  a 
prisoner,  caused  her  to  be  smothered,  and  assumed  the  crown 
as  Charles  III.,  in  1382. 

From  this  time,  the  sovereignty  of  Naples,  in  consequence 
of  the  contradictory  gifts  of  a  female,  and  of  her  changes  of 
opinion  in  disposing  of  herself,  became  a  subject  of  contest 
between  two  alien  houses,  one  of  them  from  beyond  the  Adri- 
atic, and  the  other  from  beyond  the  Alps.  The  House  of 
Anjou  again  and  again  invaded  Italy,  and  for  more  than  a 
whole  century,  devoted  great  sums,  and  many  lives,  in  unsuc- 
cessful attempts  to  get  the  crown  of  Naples.  The  title  to  this 
crown,  and  to  that  of  Jerusalem,  passed  down  by  inheritance, 
gift,  or  purchase,  among  French  princes,  to  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  on  no  better  foundation  than  the  gift  of  a 
capricious  and  profligate  woman.  A  feeling  of  pity  and  con- 
tempt naturally  arises  towards  a  people,  who  amounted  to 
many  millions,  and  who  held  one  of  the  finest  portions  of  the 
earth,  when  it  is  seen  that  they  were  not  only  disposed  of  like 
cattle,  but  forced  to  shed  their  blood  in  deciding  which  of  many 
equally  bad  masters  they  should  serve. 

Charles  of  Durazzo,  called  Charles  III.  of  Naples,  finished 


NAPLES    AND    SICILY.  397 

his  course  in  Hungary  under  the  hands  of  assassins.  He 
went  thither  to  rob  the  female  heir  of  the  Hungarian  king, 
who  had  helped  him  to  the  crown  of  Naples,  of  her  crown  ; 
but  her  subjects  conspired  and  put  an  end  to  his  wicked  and 
odious  career.  (1386.) 

Ladislaus,  the  son  of  Charles,  succeeded  him,  and  reigned 
till  1414.  He  was  a  vigorous  and  able  man,  but  of  dissolute 
habits,  which  soon  closed  his  life,  and  left  the  crown  to  his 
sister  Joan,  who  was  more  dissolute  than  her  brother.  Like 
her  predecessor  of  the  same  name,  she  had  no  heirs.  She 
declared  Alfonso,  king  of  Arragon  and  Sicily,  to  be  her  heir ; 
but,  being  attacked  by  Louis  III.  of  the  Anjou  race,  she  re- 
voked that  bequest,  and  appointed  him.  He  died  before  Joan, 
and  bequeathed  his  right  to  Rene  of  Anjou.  But  Alfonso 
obtained  possession,  and  thus  Naples,  as  Sicily  had  done, 
passed  to  the  Spanish  house  of  Arragon,  and  the  union  of 
Sicily  and  Naples,  under  this  dominion,  occurred  in  1435. 

The  events  of  the  Sicilian  kingdom,  under  the  Spanish 
dominion,  from  1282  to  1435,  contain  neither  interest  nor  in- 
struction. A  remarkable  mortality  among  the  royal  race  of 
Arragon  and  Sicily,  transferred  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  by 
peaceable  succession,  from  Joan  II.  to  Alfonso,  then  king  of 
Arragon  in  the  Spanish  peninsula.  Alfonso  had  reigned  in 
Arragon  from  1416.  Soon  after  Joan's  death  he  came  to 
Naples,  and  dwelt  there  till  his  death,  in  June,  1458,  in  his 
sixty-fourth  year.  From  the  time  of  this  king's  accession,  the 
island  of  Sicily  and  the  kingdom  of  Naples  are  known  in 
history  by  the  name  of  "  The  Two  Sicilies."  The  feudal 
relations  were  in  full  force  in  both  the  Sicilies.  There  -were 
many  feudal  lords  in  both  of  them,  who  were  rich  and  power- 
ful enough  to  raise  and  maintain  bodies  of  mounted  men  ;  one 
of  them  is  mentioned  as  the  commander  of  eighteen  hundred, 
and  another  of  four  thousand.  The  revenues  of  the  king 
were  from  various  modes  of  taxation.  Alfonso  I.  acquired 
the  name  of  Magnanimous.  He  lived  at  a  time  when  the 
ancient  learning  of  Greeks  and  Romans  had  given  a  new 
impulse  to  the  human  mind.  Among  the  cultivators  of  this 
learning,  no  one  was  more  zealous  than  this  prince.  He  had 
always  with  him  the  history  of  Titus  Livius  and  Caesar's 
commentaries.  His  secretary  affirms,  that  he  was  cured  of  a 
malady,  while  at  Capua,  by  hearing  the  life  of  Alexander  read 
to  him,  and  that  Cosmo  de  Medici  purchased  his  assent  to 
become  a  member  of  the  league  formed  in  northern  Italy,  by 
giving  him  a  beautiful  copy  of  Livy.  He  was  accustomed  to 
34 


398  NAPLES    AND    SICILY. 

walk  about  Naples  unattended,  and  replied  t®  suggestions  of 
danger, — "  What  fear  can  a  father  have,  who  walks  in  the 
midst  of  his  children  ?  "  He  was  brave,  eloquent,  affable,  and 
of  noble  deportment.  He  was  also  munificent  to  excess,  and 
this  occasioned  wants  which  could  only  be  supplied  by  exces- 
sive taxation.  His  queen  was  not  a  favorite,  and  he  endeav- 
ored in  vain  to  be  freed  from  her,  that  he  might  marry  Lucre- 
tia  d'Alagna,  who  emulated  the  high  character  of  the  Roman 
lady  of  the  same  name.  A  natural  son  of  Alfonso,  called 
Ferdinand,  was  supposed  to  have  been  the  offspring  of  Mar- 
guerite de  Hijar ;  she,  at  least,  permitted  the  maternity  to  be 
imputed  to  her.  The  queen  caused  her  to  be  strangled. 
Others  considered  Ferdinand  to  have  been  the  son  of  his 
brother's  wife.  However  this  may  have  been,  Alfonso  gave 
to  him  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  Sicily  to  his  brother  John, 
by  which  Sicily  and  Naples  were  again  separated  in  1458. 

Sismondi  admits  the  good  qualities  which  are  attributed  to 
Alfonso,  but  thinks  he  erred  in  extending  the  prerogatives  of 
the  feudal  lords  over  their  vassals,  and  thereby  giving  oppor- 
tunities for  severe  oppressions.  That  he  thereby,  also,  weak- 
ened the  royal  prerogatives,  essential,  in  that  age,  to  order  and 
peace,  and  unconsciously  facilitated  the  means  of  future  civil 
wars.  This  able  writer  concludes  his  commentary  by  express- 
ing his  doubts  whether  the  reign  of  Alfonso  was  favorable  to 
the  progress  of  civilization,  though  he  acknowledges  him  to 
have  been  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  generous  monarchs  of 
the  fifteenth  century. 

The  qualities  of  Ferdinand  were  strongly  contrasted  with 
those  of  his  father.  Perfidy,  avarice,  and  cruelty  were  promi- 
nent among  them.  Numerous  enemies  combined  against  him. 
At  the  head  of  them  was  pope  Calixtus  III.,  who  insisted  that 
Naples  had  fallen  to  the  disposal  of  the  holy  church.  He 
invited  all  claimants  of  the  Neapolitan  crown  to  assemble  at 
Rome.  But  Calixtus  followed  Alfonso  in  less  than  two  months. 
The  barons  of  his  own  kingdom  combined  against  Ferdinand, 
and  invited  John,  titular  duke  of  Calabria,  son  of  Rene,  duke 
of  Anjou,  to  assert  his  right  to  the  crown.  Between  the 
preparations  for  war  and  the  actual  commencement  of  hostili- 
ties against  Ferdinand,  Pius  II,  successor  of  Calixtus,  alarmed 
at  the  increasing  power  of  the  Turks,  invited  an  assembly  of 
Christian  powers  at  Mantua,  and  went  thither  himself,  in  great 
pomp.  At  Florence  he  was  received  with  singular  honors  for 
a  spiritual  chief.  A  tournament,  a  ball,  and  a  combat  of  wild 
beasts,  were  among  the  honors  conferred  in  that  city.     But, 


NAPLES    AND    SICILY.  399 

unfortunately,  the  ten  lions  which  were  turned  loose  into  the 
arena  to  combat  with  a  giraffe,  (cameleopard,)  could  not  be 
provoked  to  hostility. 

Meanwhile,  John  of  Anjou  (duke  of  Calabria)  had  ap- 
proached Naples  with  numerous  allies,  in  October,  1459.  The 
result  of  this  conflict  was  the  total  defeat  of  Ferdinand  at  the 
battle  of  Sarno.  (1460.)  He  recovered  from  this  defeat,  and 
was,  in  turn,  successful,  and  preserved  himself  on  the  throne 
through  the  long  reign  of  thirty-six  years,  but  incessantly 
involved  in  difficulties.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy,  in 
1494,  leaving  the  reputation  of  an  able  politician,  but  univer- 
sally odious  for  his  deliberate  cruelties  and  crimes.  His  death 
occurred  at  a  period  when  new  troubles  were  gathering  for 
his  subjects. 

Louis  XI.  of  France  had  acquired,  by  gift  and  purchase, 
all  the  rights  of  the  house  of  Anjou  to  Provence,  Naples,  and 
Jerusalem.  Provence  he  possessed,  but  the  claim  to  the  other 
two  were  merely  titular.  He  was  too  much  occupied  at  home 
in  extending  and  strengthening  his  empire,  to  think  of  acquir- 
ing possession  of  Naples.  Military  renown  was  not  among 
the  objects  of  this  prince's  ambition.  After  his  death,  in  1483, 
his  son  and  successor,  Charles  VIII.,  desired  to  distinguish 
himself  as  a  conqueror,  and  undertook  the  conquest  of  Naples 
under  the  ancient  claim  of  the  house  of  Anjou,  and  soon 
began  a  course  of  preparations  and  conference  with  Italian 
powers  to  accomplish  his  objects.* 

The  design  of  Charles  was  known  to  Ferdinand  I.,  and  he 
was  engaged  in  measures  of  defence  when  he  died.  He  had 
•endeavored  to  arm  the  duke  of  Milan  against  Charles,  on  the 
two-fold  ground  that  such  was  the  true  policy  of  Italy,  and 
that  personal  interest  sustained  that  policy,  as  Ferdinand's 
oldest  son,  and  intended  successor,  had  married  the  duke's 
daughter.  This  son,  Alfonso  If.,  peaceably  ascended  the 
throne  on  Ferdinand's  decease. 

Alfonso  II.  had  acquired  a  high  reputation  as  a  military 
chief,  in  the  wars  between  the  Turks  and  Venetians.  His 
father  left  him  a  rich  treasury,  accumulated  by  exactions  and 
avarice.  Naples  had  many  able  and  experienced  soldiers. 
Yet  Sismondi  says,  that  it  seemed  equally  impossible  that 
Charles  should  conquer  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  or  that  Al- 
fonso should  be  able  to  preserve  it. 

*  It  is  at  this  period  that  Hallam  concludes  his  History  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  expressing  the  opinion  that  these  ages  should  be  considered  as  ter- 
minating at  the  time  when  Charles  undertook  this  invasion. 


398  NAPLES    AND    SICILY. 

walk  about  Naples  unattended,  and  replied  t®  suggestions  of 
danger, — "  What  fear  can  a  father  have,  who  walks  in  the 
midst  of  his  children?"  He  was  brave,  eloquent,  affable,  and 
of  noble  deportment.  He  was  also  munificent  to  excess,  and 
this  occasioned  wants  which  could  only  be  supplied  by  exces- 
sive taxation.  His  queen  was  not  a  favorite,  and  he  endeav- 
ored in  vain  to  be  freed  from  her,  that  he  might  marry  Lucre- 
tia  d'Alagna,  who  emulated  the  high  character  of  the  Roman 
lady  of  the  same  name.  A  natural  son  of  Alfonso,  called 
Ferdinand,  was  supposed  to  have  been  the  offspring  of  Mar- 
guerite de  Hijar ;  she,  at  least,  permitted  the  maternity  to  be 
imputed  to  her.  The  queen  caused  her  to  be  strangled. 
Others  considered  Ferdinand  to  have  been  the  son  of  his 
brother's  wife.  However  this  may  have  been,  Alfonso  gave 
to  him  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  Sicily  to  his  brother  John, 
by  which  Sicily  and  Naples  were  again  separated  in  1458. 

Sismondi  admits  the  good  qualities  which  are  attributed  to 
Alfonso,  but  thinks  he  erred  in  extending  the  prerogatives  of 
the  feudal  lords  over  their  vassals,  and  thereby  giving  oppor- 
tunities for  severe  oppressions.  That  he  thereby,  also,  weak- 
ened the  royal  prerogatives,  essential,  in  that  age,  to  order  and 
peace,  and  unconsciously  facilitated  the  means  of  future  civil 
wars.  This  able  writer  concludes  his  commentary  by  express- 
ing his  doubts  whether  the  reign  of  Alfonso  was  favorable  to 
the  progress  of  civilization,  though  he  acknowledges  him  to 
have  been  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  generous  monarchs  of 
the  fifteenth  century. 

The  qualities  of  Ferdinand  were  strongly  contrasted  writh 
those  of  his  father.  Perfidy,  avarice,  and  cruelty  were  promi- 
nent among  them.  Numerous  enemies  combined  against  him. 
At  the  head  of  them  was  pope  Calixtus  III.,  who  insisted  that 
Naples  had  fallen  to  the  disposal  of  the  holy  church.  He 
invited  all  claimants  of  the  Neapolitan  crown  to  assemble  at 
Rome.  But  Calixtus  followed  Alfonso  in  less  than  two  months. 
The  barons  of  his  own  kingdom  combined  against  Ferdinand, 
and  invited  John,  titular  duke  of  Calabria,  son  of  Rene,  duke 
of  Anjou,  to  assert  his  right  to  the  crown.  Between  the 
preparations  for  war  and  the  actual  commencement  of  hostili- 
ties against  Ferdinand,  Pius  II.,  successor  of  Calixtus,  alarmed 
at  the  increasing  power  of  the  Turks,  invited  an  assembly  of 
Christian  powers  at  Mantua,  and  went  thither  himself,  in  great 
pomp.  At  Florence  he  was  received  with  singular  honors  for 
a  spiritual  chief.  A  tournament,  a  ball,  and  a  combat  of  wild 
beasts,  were  among  the  honors  conferred  in  that  city.     But, 


NAPLES    AND    SICILY.  399 

unfortunately,  the  ten  lions  which  were  turned  loose  into  the 
arena  to  combat  with  a  giraffe,  (cameleopard,)  could  not  be 
provoked  to  hostility. 

Meanwhile,  John  of  Anjou  (duke  of  Calabria)  had  ap- 
proached Naples  with  numerous  allies,  in  October,  1459.  The 
result  of  this  conflict  was  the  total  defeat  of  Ferdinand  at  the 
battle  of  Sarno.  (1460.)  He  recovered  from  this  defeat,  and 
was,  in  turn,  successful,  and  preserved  himself  on  the  throne 
through  the  long  reign  of  thirty-six  years,  but  incessantly 
involved  in  difficulties.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy,  in 
1494,  leaving  the  reputation  of  an  able  politician,  but  univer- 
sally odious  for  his  deliberate  cruelties  and  crimes.  His  death 
occurred  at  a  period  when  new  troubles  were  gathering  for 
his  subjects. 

Louis  XI.  of  France  had  acquired,  by  gift  and  purchase, 
all  the  rights  of  the  house  of  Anjou  to  Provence,  Naples,  and 
Jerusalem.  Provence  he  possessed,  but  the  claim  to  the  other 
two  were  merely  titular.  He  was  too  much  occupied  at  home 
in  extending  and  strengthening  his  empire,  to  think  of  acquir- 
ing possession  of  Naples.  Military  renown  was  not  among 
the  objects  of  this  prince's  ambition.  After  his  death,  in  1483, 
his  son  and  successor,  Charles  VIII.,  desired  to  distinguish 
himself  as  a  conqueror,  and  undertook  the  conquest  of  Naples 
under  the  ancient  claim  of  the  house  of  Anjou,  and  soon 
began  a  course  of  preparations  and  conference  with  Italian 
powers  to  accomplish  his  objects.* 

The  design  of  Charles  was  known  to  Ferdinand  I.,  and  he 
was  engaged  in  measures  of  defence  when  he  died.  He  had 
-endeavored  to  arm  the  duke  of  Milan  against  Charles,  on  the 
two-fold  ground  that  such  was  the  true  policy  of  Italy,  and 
that  personal  interest  sustained  that  policy,  as  Ferdinand's 
oldest  son,  and  intended  successor,  had  married  the  duke's 
daughter.  This  son,  Alfonso  II.,  peaceably  ascended  the 
throne  on  Ferdinand's  decease. 

Alfonso  II.  had  acquired  a  high  reputation  as  a  military 
chief,  in  the  wars  between  the  Turks  and  Venetians.  His 
father  left  him  a  rich  treasury,  accumulated  by  exactions  and 
avarice.  Naples  had  many  able  and  experienced  soldiers. 
Yet  Sismondi  says,  that  it  seemed  equally  impossible  that 
Charles  should  conquer  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  or  that  Al- 
fonso should  be  able  to  preserve  it. 

*  It  is  at  this  period  that  Hallam  concludes  his  History  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  expressing  the  opinion  that  these  ages  should  be  considered  as  ter- 
minating at  the  time  when  Charles  undertook  this  invasion, 


400  NAPLES. 

CHAPTER  LVII. 

CONQUEST    OF    NAPLES    BY    CHARLES    VIII.    OF    FRANCE. 

In  the  sketches  of  French  history,  the  invasion  of  Italy  by 
Charles  VIII.  was  reserved  for  notice  in  this  place.  Charles 
was  only  fifteen  years  of  age  when  his  father,  Louis  XI., 
died,  in  1483,  and  his  own  life  ended  in  1498.  This  father 
and  son  were  in  a  state  of  alienation  for  many  years.  Louis 
had  been  a  disobedient  and  rebellious  son,  and  he  had  reason 
to  fear  that  his  own  son  might  have  like  dispositions  towards 
himself.  Charles  was,  therefore,  a  sort  of  state  prisoner  while 
Louis  lived.  In  all  the  chances  which  have  placed  the  un- 
worthy in  power,  no  one  is  more  surprising  than  in  the  case 
of  this  king  of  France.  Comines,  who  knew  him  well,  has 
described  him,  but  not  so  fully  as  an  Italian  historian  whom 
Sismondi  copies. 

This  description  is  found  in  Sismondi's  twelfth  volume,  page 
86.  His  head  was  large,  his  neck  short,  his  breast  and  shoul- 
ders large  and  high,  his  thighs  long  and  slender,  his  complex- 
ion sallow  and  unhealthy,  his  stature  short,  his  face  ugly,  all 
his  members  were  disproportioned,  and  he  seemed  to  be  rather 
a  monster  than  a  man.  Yet  there  was  something  of  dignity 
and  vigor  in  his  eyes.  He  was  ignorant  of  all  liberal  arts, 
and  hardly  knew  how  to  read.  He  was  always  under  the 
influence  of  the  intrigues  which  were  carried  on  around  him, 
without  being  able  to  perceive  them.  He  hated  the  fatigue  of 
business,  and  when  forced  to  attend  to  it,  he  had  neither  pru- 
dence nor  judgment.  He  had  a  propensity  to  glory,  but  it 
arose  from  impetuosity,  not  reason.  He  was  liberal,  but  had 
no  discrimination  as  to,  the  objects  or  measure  of  liberality. 
He  was  immoveable  in  his  will,  but  from  obstinacy,  not  con- 
stancy. That  which  was  called  goodness  in  him  was  rather 
insensibility  to  injuries  and  feebleness  of  mind.  Comines' 
description  of  Charles  is  not  inconsistent  with  this,  except  in 
one  thing  :  that  Charles  "  was  one  of  the  best  creatures  in 
the  world."  From  other  sources  it  is  known  of  Charles,  that 
he  was  devoted  to  pleasure,  and  seemed  to  have  no  higher 
views  of  the  rights  and  duties  of  royalty,  than  that  they  gave 
unrestrained  license  to  appetites.  Such  a  man  and  such  a 
monarch  undertook  to  pass  from  France,  with  a  numerous 
army,  through  many  independent,  and,  perhaps,  hostile  states, 


NAPLES. 


401 


more  than  eight  hundred  miles,  to  Naples.  His  object  was 
the  crown  of  Naples,  which  no  ancestor  of  his  own  had  ever 
held,  and  to  which  he  had  no  pretence  but  as  the  heir  of  his 
father,  who  had  purchased  from  one  who  had  himself  no  more 
than  a  pretension,  and  which  the  lapse  of  time  and  the  estab- 
lished dominion  of  another  royal  house  had  absolutely  extin- 
guished. It  is  a  curious  historical  fact,  that  the  feeble  and 
insignificant  Charles  should  have  found  his  way  to  the  throne 
of  Naples  without  having  fought  a  single  battle;  nor  less 
so,  that  such  a  shadow  of  a  man,  and  such  a  semblance  of 
royalty,  should  have  changed  the  political  relations  of  all 
Europe. 

These  events  could  not  have  happened  if  motives  for  this 
expedition  had  not  been  assigned,  adapted  to  quiet  the  appre- 
hensions of  other  European  powers.  At  this  time  the  Turks 
were  advancing  in  the  eastern  part  of  Europe,  and  were 
already  terrible  to  the  Italian  states,  as  well  as  to  Hungary, 
Bohemia,  and  the  eastern  frontier  of  Germany.  Charles  de- 
clared that  when  he  had  conquered  Naples,  he  intended  to 
cross  the  Adriatic,  and  attack  the  Turks  through  Greece. 
Whether  such  was  the  intention,  or  whether  it  was  so  receiv* 
ed  by  other  powers,  belief  in  this  declaration  seems  necessary 
to  account  for  the  permitted  success  of  Charles's  expedition. 

The  first  movement  of  Charles  was  to  send  the  duke  of 
Orleans,  (afterwards  Louis  XII.,)  in  1494,  to  Genoa,  with 
very  ample  funds  to  equip  a  fleet.  This  was  done.  A  Nea- 
politan force  came  to  Genoa,  and  some  conflicts  ensued,  which 
terminated  advantageously  for  the  French.  Meanwhile, 
Charles  had  assembled  all  the  nobility  of  his  kingdom  who 
were  ambitious  of  military  glory,  or  disposed  to  the  excite- 
ment of  new  enterprise.  But  it  was  rather  an  assembly  for 
the  delights  of  a  royal  court,  than  for  the  exertions  of  a  mili- 
tary campaign. 

In  1494,  Charles  passed  the  summer  at  Lyons,  with  all  his 
court,  in  splendid  gaieties,  and  seemed  to  have  forgotten  his 
intended  conquest.  On  the  23d  of  August  he  passed  the  Alps 
with  31,600  troops,  of  various  descriptions  and  nations,  with  a 
numerous  retinue  of  attendants;  and  this  number  of  armed 
men  was  nearly  doubled  before  he  reached  the  frontier  of  the 
Neapolitan  kingdom.  The  states  of  northern  Italy  were  so 
divided  among  themselves,  and  so  governed  internally,  as  not 
to  be  in  a  condition  to  resist  Charles.  Attempts  were  made 
by  the  pope,  Alexander  VI.,  and  by  Florence,  to  impede  his 
passage.  An  insurrection  in  Home  deprived  the  pope  of  all 
34* 


402  NAPLES. 

power  to  resist,  and  Piero  de  Medici,  the  head  of  the  Floren- 
tine republic,  made  a  disgraceful  treaty  with  Charles,  which 
opened  Florence  to  him.  The  dissatisfaction  of  the  Floren- 
tines caused  the  flight  and  the  exile  of  Piero.  Charles  was 
received  in  this  city  in  a  friendly  manner.  But  he  soon  assert- 
ed the  rights  of  a  conqueror,  and  demanded  the  restoration  of 
Piero  de  Medici.  He  was  firmly  and  nobly  answered.  He 
then  reduced  his  claim  to  a  demand  of  money,  and  a  sum  was 
agreed  on ;  and  Charles  was  to  restore  all  the  rights  of  Flo- 
rence at  Pisa.  Charles  took  possession  of  Sienna,  on  his  way 
to  Rome,  and  entered  Rome  against  the  consent  of  the  pope, 
and  almost  in  the  character  of  an  enemy.  The  Pontiff  is  rep- 
resented to  have  conducted  himself  with  contemptible  indecis- 
ion, and  pusillanimity,  in  this  affair.  The  entry  of  Charles  in- 
to Rome  is  described  by  Paul  Jove,  whom  Sismondi  considers 
to  have  been  personally  present.  As  no  description,  equally 
full  and  accurate,  of  a  military  force  in  this  age,  has  been  met 
wtih,  an  abridgement  of  Sismondi' s  account  of  it  is  here  made. 
(Vol.  xii.  p.  182,  and  the  following.) 

The  entry  took  place  on  the  31st  of  Dec.  1494.  The  ad- 
vance guard  was  composed  of  Swiss  and  Germans,  who  march- 
ed in  battalions,  with  banners  displayed,  by  the  sound  of  drums. 
Their  coats  were  short,  closely  fitted  to  the  body,  and  of  vari- 
ous colors.  The  officers  wore  plumes  in  their  helmets.  The 
soldiers  had  short  swords,  and  lances  of  ashwood,  ten  feet  long, 
with  a  sharp-edged  point  of  iron.  One  fourth  of  them  had 
battle-axes,  fixed  to  the  end  of  a  long  pole,  (usually  called  hal- 
berts)  instead  of  lances.  The  battle-axe  was  formed  like  a 
common  hatchet,  having  on  the  opposite  side,  and  connected 
with  the  head,  an  iron  with  four  sharp  corners.  Either  side  of 
this  weapon  was  used  in  battle,  but  with  both  hands.  Every 
1000  men  had  a  company  of  100  fusiliers.  The  front  ranks  of 
the  advanced  guard  had  helmets,  and  breast-plates  for  defence. 
The  other  ranks  had  not. 

After  the  Swiss,  marched  5000  Gascons,  (from  the  south- 
west of  France,)  who  were  armed  as  archers,  with  cross-bows, 
and  iron  pointed  arrows.  They  were  of  small  stature,  and 
without  ornamental  dress. 

Next  came  the  cavalry,  composed  of  the  selected  French  no- 
bility, clad  in  silken  cloaks,  and  helmets  and  collars,  brilliant 
with  gold.  Half  of  them  (2,500)  were  cuirassiers,  or  horse- 
men, defended  by  helmets  and  plates  of  brass  on  the  breast  and 
back.  They  carried  a  lance  with  a  solid  point,  and  other  arms 
resembling  hatchets.     Their  horses  were  large  and  strong, 


NAPLES.  403 

but  cropped  of  their  ears,  and  of  the  long  hair  of  their  tails. 
Each  man  was  followed  by  three  horses ;  on  one  was  a  page, 
armed  like  his  master,  on  the  other  two  were  attendants,  in  the 
character  of  esquires,  or  aids.  The  other  half  were  light  cav- 
alry, bearing  wooden  bows,  (after  the  English  manner,)  to 
shoot  long  arrows.  They  had  defensive  armor  like  the  heavy 
cavalry,  and  short  pikes,  to  pierce  those  whom  the  heavy  cav- 
alry had  overthrown.  Their  cloaks  were  ornamented  with 
cords  to  attach  them  to  the  neck,  and  with  plates  of  silver. 
Four  hundred  archers,  among  whom  were  100  Scots,  rode  at 
the  side  of  the  king.  Two  hundred  chosen  French  knights 
surrounded  him  on  foot.  They  carried  on  their  shoulders, 
iron  instruments,  resembling  heavy  hatchets.  When  they 
mounted  they  were  armed  like  cavalry,  only  they  were  distin- 
guished by  the  beauty  of  their  horses,  and  their  ornaments  of 
gold  and  purple.  The  cardinals  Ascagne  Sforza,  and  Julien 
de  Rovere,  rode  at  the  side  of  the  king.  Colonna  and  Savelli, 
of  the  same  rank,  rode  next  behind.  The  Italian  and  French 
generals  came  next,  intermingled  with  the  great  French  lords. 

Thirty-six  brass  cannon,  8  feet  long,  of  a  calibre  of  the  size 
of  the  human  head;  and  culverines  of  half  that  length,  came 
next-;  and  then  a  still  larger  kind  of  cannon.* 

The  advance  guard  entered  the  gate  del  Populo  at  3  o'clock, 
P.  M.,  and  the  march  continued  till  9  ;  torches  and  flambeaux 
throwing  their  gleams  on  the  army,  made  it  still  more  solemn 
and  imposing. 

An  irritating  and  hostile  intercourse  took  place  between 
Charles  and  the  pope,  which  sometimes  threatened  a  settlement 
by  military  force,  but  ended  in  a  treaty,  dictated  by  the  former. 
The  pope  made  no  objection  to  the  terms,  intending  to  disre- 
gard them  all,  as  might  best  suit  his  interests.  Certain  citadels 
wrere  surrendered  to  Charles,  to  be  held  till  the  end  of  the  war ; 
and  Caesar  Borgia,  son  of  the  pope,  was  required  to  follow 
Charles,  really  as  a  hostage,  though  with  the  ostensible  rank  of 
a  legate.  One  article  of  the  treaty  related  to  Zimzim,  or  Gem, 
brother  of  the  sultan  Bajazet.  This  person  claimed  the  Turk- 
ish throne,  because?  he  was  born  after  his  father,  Mahomet  II., 
became  sultan,  and  the  older  brother,  Bajazet,  before  that  event. 
Gem  was  defeated,  and,  at  length,  sought  an  asylum  in  Rome. 
His  brother  paid  the  pope  40,000  ducats  a  year,  to  support  Gem 

*  The  carriage  on  which  the  cannon  were  borne,  were  not  unlike  those 
of  modern  times,  but  of  heavier  construction.  Sismondi  does  not  men- 
tion the  attendants,  and  baggage  of  this  armament,  which  must  have  com- 
prised a  numerous  train. 


404  NAPLES. 

there,  and  to  keep  him  there.  Charles  required  that  Gem 
should  be  delivered  to  him,  as  he  would  be  useful  in  Charles's 
intended  movements  against  the  sultan.  When  the  pope  found 
that  he  must  surrender  Gem,  he  caused  a  slow  poison  to  bead- 
ministered  to  Gem,  which  proved  fatal,  while  the  French  were 
on  the  way  from  Rome  to  Naples. 

The  approach  of  the  French  had  been  long  expected  by  Al- 
fonso II.,  and  by  his  son  and  successor,  Ferdinand.  Both  of  them 
supposed  that  they  would  come  through  Romagna,  on  the  east- 
ern side  of  the  Apennines,  and  a  force  had  been  gathered  there, 
under  Ferdinand,  the  son  of  Alfonso.  The  route  taken  by 
the  French  was  along  the  plain,  between  the  Apennines  and 
the  Po,  to  the  duchy  of  Parma,  and  thence,  southwardly,  across 
the  Apennines  by  the  road  of  Pontremoli,  to  Lucca.  When 
this  was  known  to  Ferdinand,  he  returned  towards  Naples,  and 
was  at  Rome  when  Charles  arrived  there,  and  left  the  city  by 
one  gate,  while  the  French  entered  by  another. 

On  the  23d  of  January,  1495,  Charles  departed  from  Na- 
ples for  Rome.  The  pope  immediately  employed  himself  to 
unite  the  enemies  of  Charles  in  the  North  of  Italy,  without 
any  regard  to  his  treaty.  Charles  entered  the  territory  of  the 
Neopolitan  kingdom,  and  forthwith  commenced  a  series  of  sav- 
age cruelties,  unknown  even  in  that  comparatively  barbarous 
age.  Terror  preceded  him  in  his  rapid  course  to  Naples.  Fer- 
dinand exerted  himself  with  great  ability  to  meet  Charles,  in 
difficult  passes,  but  as  soon  as  the  advanced  guard  of  the  French 
came  in  view,  his  troops  fled.  While  in  this  discouraging  po- 
sition, his  father  Alfonso,  more  terrified  than  any  of  his  sub- 
jects, and  no  less  apprehensive  of  them  than  of  the  French,  re- 
solved tQ  abdicate  the  throne.  Ferdinand  went  to  Naples  to 
take  possession,  while  Alfonso  was  flying,  with  all  his  treas- 
ures, to  Sicily.  Having  assumed  the  crown,  Ferdinand  hur- 
ried back,  in  the  hope  of  making  a  successful  resistance  at  Ca- 
pua. But  he  had  hardly  arrived  at  that  place,  when  he  was  re- 
called to  Naples,  to  quell  a  popular  insurrection.  This  he  ac- 
complished in  a  gallant  manner ;  but  in  his  absence  the  French 
had  entered  Capua,  and  were  within  a  short  distance  of  Naples. 
No  resource  was  left  to  Ferdinand  but  to  escape  with  the  mem- 
bers of  the  royal  family,  whom  Alfonso  had  left  behind,  to  the 
Island  of  Ischia,  and  thence  to  Sicily. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  Charles  entered  Naples  with  ex- 
traordinary magnificence,  and  was  received  by  the  fickle  Neapo- 
litans with  every  demonstration  of  joy.  He  then  abandoned 
every  thought  of  serious  affairs,   and  devoted  himself  to  the 


NAPLES. 


405 


most  extravagant  pomp  and  pleasure.  He  was  little  aware  of 
the  difficulties  and  dangers  which  were  gathering  around  him. 
The  Arragonese  families,  who  had  deserted  Jheir  sovereigns, 
looked  to  him  for  their  reward.  The  ancient  families  who  had 
sustained  the  French  house  of  Anjou,  even  sixty  years,  ex- 
pected to  be  reinstated  in  their  possessions.  The  French  who 
had  followed  him,  expected  to  be  favored  and  enriched,  to  the 
exclusion  of  all  others.  The  two  former  classes  presented 
themselves  at  court.  They  were  not  recognized,  and  however 
often  they  came,  were  obliged  to  tell  who  they  were,  and  state 
anew  their  pretensions.  They  saw  that  the  followers  of  Charles 
were  the  only  class  who  could  approach  him,  or  obtain  his  fa- 
vorable notice.  The  common  people  did  not  find  that  they  had 
changed  masters  for  the  better.  Instead  of  the  restoration  of  a 
former  monarchy,  and  the  redress  of  wrongs  and  injuries,  all 
classes  soon  understood,  that  they  had  only  aided  rapacious 
and  insolent  conquerors  to  take  possession  of  their  country. 
The  cheap  wines,  abundant  fruits,  and  other  temptations  of 
Naples,  seduced  and  enfeebled  the  soldiery,  who  knew  nothing 
of  such  luxuries  beyond  the  Alps.  Satiety  and  weariness  soon 
brought  remembrance  of  home.  In  all  this  time  Charles  had 
done  nothing  to  establish  his  empire.  The  Neapolitans  began 
to  regret  the  loss  of  their  former  princes ;  and  Ferdinand  was 
busy  in  devising  means,  and  seeking  the  favorable  time  to  pre- 
sent himself  to  his  subjects. 

The  states  of  northern  Italy  were  now  sensible  of  the  folly 
of  having  permitted  Charles  to  pass  unmolested  to  Naples.  A 
congress  was  held  at  Venice,  in  which  all  these  powers  were 
represented,  and  even  the  sultan  Bajazet.  The  ministers  as- 
sembled there  are  said  to  have  amounted  to  100;  and  though 
the  able  and  accomplished  Comines  was  there,  as  the  represent- 
ative of  Charles,  a  solemn  league  was  formed,  including  Max- 
imillian,  emperor  of  Germany,  to  furnish  men  and  money  to 
overwhelm  Charles,  before  Comines  was  aware  of  the  project. 
The  dream  of  the  conqueror  was  dissipated  by  information  from 
Comines,  of  the  combination  which  had  been  formed  against 
him.  He  had  now  something  more  interesting  to  think  of 
than  the  association  of  French  gallantry,  with  the  luxury  and 
delights  of  Naples.  * 

Having  divided  his  army  into  two  parts,  he  intended  one  of 
them  to  preserve  his  dominion  in  Naples,  and  the  other  to  pro- 
tect him  in  the  perilous  return,  which  he  was  forced  to  under- 
take.    He  selected  the  high  officers  who  were  to  be  left  as  his 


406  NArLES. 

representatives,  and  departed  from  Naples  for  Rome,  on  the 
20th  of  May,  having  passed  nearly  three  months  in  the  capi- 
tal of  his  new  kingdom.  The  number  of  troops  which  ac- 
companied him,  is  thus  computed :  800  lancers  ;  200  gentlemen 
for  his  personal  guard;  100  armed  Italians;  3000  Swiss  foot 
soldiers;  1000  French,  and  1000  Gascon  soldiers;  and  250 
were  expected  to  join  him  in  Tuscany.  The  residue  of  his 
army,  who  had  survived  to  that  time,  were  distributed  in  differ- 
ent garrisons. 

The  pope  did  not  oppose  the  entry  of  Charles  into  Rome, 
but  he  withdrew  himself,  and  went  to  Orvieto,  a  distance  of  60 
miles.  Having  remained  three  days  at  Rome,  Charles  pro- 
ceeded to  Tuscany,  but  marked  his  course,  while  within  church 
territories,  by  burning,  pillage,  and  massacre.  At  Sienna  he 
remained  six  days,  attempting  to  turn  the  dissensions  which  ex- 
isted there,  to  his  own  account ;  and  believing  he  had  succeed- 
ed, impaired  his  strength  by  leaving  300  men  to  maintain  his 
power.  But  he  had  not  reached  France,  before  they  were 
driven  from  the  city.  He  was  informed  at  Sienna  that  the 
Florentines  would  not  allow  him  to  pass  their  territory.  He 
inclined  thence  towards  the  sea,  and  arrived  at  Pisa.  Here  he 
was  assailed  by  men,  women,  and  children,  who  reminded  him 
of  his  engagements  to  free  them  from  the  dominion  of  Florence ; 
while  the  ambassadors  from  that  city,  came  to  reproach  him 
that  he  had  not  surrendered  Pisa  to  Florence,  as  he  bound  him- 
self to  do,  and  for  which  he  had  been  paid.  The  Pisans  soft- 
ened even  the  hearts  of  the  French  soldiery  by  their  tears  and 
lamentations.  Fifty  of  these  soldiers  sought  the  presence  of 
Charles,  and  declared  they  would  rather  give  up  all  wages 
due  to  them,  than  have  the  Pisans  subjected  to  Florence.  The 
feeble  and  embarrassed  king  would  make  no  new  promises  to 
the  Pisans;  and  directed  the  Florentine  ambassadors  to  meet 
him  at  Asti,  nearly  150  miles  north-west,  in  northern  Italy,  to 
receive  an  answer. 

Leaving  Pisa  in  possession  of  French  soldiers,  Charles 
crossed  the  Apennines  in  mid-summer,  with  extreme  difficulty, 
by  the  road  of  Pontremoli,  to  Parma.  Having  descended  in- 
to the  plains  on  the  north  side  of  the  mountains,  he  was  met 
by  a  body  of  troops,  much  superior  in  number  to  his  own, 
which  opposed  his  passage  of  the  Bogano,  which  flows  to  the 
city  of  Parma.  The  extreme  heat,  and  the  want  of  provisions 
of  every  sort,  and  the  fatigue  of  crossing  the  mountains,  made 
his  condition  desperate.     Despair  rather  than  skill  or  courage, 


NAPLES.  407 

animated  his  troops  in  the  battle  which  ensued.  In  the  midst 
of  it,  the  baggage  of  the  French  was  seen  to  be  passing,  unpro- 
tected, along  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  and  part  of  the  hired 
soldiers  of  the  league  were  attracted  to  that,  while  another 
part  were  seized  with  panic.  Charles  is  said  to  have  conduct- 
ed himself  well  on  this  occasion.  Though  in  imminent  peril, 
he  escaped  with  the  loss  of  a  small  portion  of  his  troops. 
From  hence  to  Asti,  (about  fifty  miles  south-west  of  Pavia,) 
Charles  was  continually  harassed  by  the  troops  of  his  adver- 
saries, but,  without  any  serious  loss,  was  enabled  to  reach  this 
place  on  the  15th  of  July,  1495,  which  was,  to  him,  a  place 
of  safety,  and  abundant  in  provisions. 

The  duke  of  Orleans,  afterwards  Louis  XII.,  had  been  left 
at  Asti  to  keep  up  a  communication  between  Charles  and 
France.  Louis  having  pretensions  to  the  duchy  of  Milan,  in 
right  of  his  grandmother  Valentina  Visconti,  had  attempted  to 
enforce  these  rights.  Charles  found  that  Louis  was  besieged 
at  Novara,  twenty-five  miles  west  of  Milan.  A  treaty  relieved 
the  duke  of  Orleans,  and  Charles  recrossed  the  Alps  to  Dau- 
phine,  in  France,  the  22d  of  October,  with  a  precipitation 
which  could  not  have  been  greater,  if  he  had  been  pursued  by 
a  victorious  army.  Thus  ended,  as  to  Charles  personally,  his 
expedition  to  Naples.  A  less  fortunate  destiny  awaited  the 
army  which  he  left  to  defend  his  conquest. 

Ferdinand  II.  retired  to  Messina,  in  Sicily,  leaving  Naples 
in  possession  of  Charles  VIII.,  at  the  end  of  February,  1495. 
His  father  Alfonso,  (who  had  assumed  the  dress  of  a  monk, 
intending  to  pass  the  residue  of  his  life  in  penitence  and  devo- 
tion,) came  to  visit  him,  and  offered  some  part  of  the  treasure 
which  he  brought  from  Naples.  Fernando  Gonsalvez  came 
there,  also,  from  Spain,  with  five  thousand  foot  soldiers,  and 
six  hundred  cavaliers ;  the  same  Gonsalvez  who  afterwards 
acquired  the  name  of  the  great  captain,  in  the  Avars  of  Italy. 
Ferdinand  was  already  informed  of  the  change  of  opinion  in 
his  favor,  in  consequence  of  the  insolent  and  oppressive  con- 
duct of  the  French.  He  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  ap- 
proach Naples  through  Calabria,  from  Sicily,  with  the  aid  of 
Gonsalvez,  and  was  obliged  to  return,  after  a  narrow  escape. 
A  nobleman  gave  up  his  own  horse  to  Ferdinand,  and  was 
immediately  slain  himself. 

The  next  movement  of  Ferdinand  was  to  pass  by  sea  to  the 
neighborhood  of  Naples,  and  to  land  there,  the  duke  of  Mont- 
pensier  being  then  in  the  chief  command  of  the  French,  and 


408  NAPLES. 

established  in  that  city.  It  would  fill  a  much  larger  space 
than  can  be  given  to  the  warfare  of  the  next  two  months,  if  all 
its  details  were  followed  out.  On  the  one  side,  Ferdinand  was 
attempting  to  harass  and  distress  his  adversaries,  not  only  by 
gaJlant  conflict  whenever  favorable  opportunities  occurred,  but 
by  cutting  off  their  supplies,  and  confining  them  within  the 
narrowest  limits.  On  the  other  side,  the  French  were  sus- 
taining themselves  in  the  hope  that  Charles  would  reinforce 
them,  and  furnish  money  to  pay  the  wages  of  their  army. 
Both  sides  disclosed  great  skill  and  bravery ;  but  Ferdinand, 
for  so  young  and  inexperienced  a  general,  is  highly  applauded 
for  his  perseverance,  prudence,  and  good  sense,  under  the 
most  difficult  and  embarrassing  circumstances.  The  French 
had  able  generals  and  veteran  soldiers ;  while  Ferdinand  had 
neither,  but  in  a  very  inferior  extent,  in  comparison  with  his 
enemies,  and  was  compelled  to  rely  on  the  feudal  troops  of  his 
barons,  and  the  common  militia  of  the  country.  Two  persons 
should  be  honorably  mentioned  among  Ferdinand's  supporters; 
the  two  brothers  of  the  name  of  d'Avalos,  one  of  whom  was 
the  marquis  of  Piscaria.  Both  of  them,  to  the  deep  distress  of 
Ferdinand,  were  soon  lost  by  him ;  one  by  a  mortal  wound  in 
battle,  the  other  by  assassination.  The  loss  of  the  marquis 
made  Ferdinand,  for  some  time,  incapable  of  devoting  himself 
to  public  affairs. 

One  occurrence  in  this  warfare  deserves  notice,  as  it  dis- 
closes the  relative  condition  of  the  belligerents,  and  the  peculiar 
state  of  the  country.  Apulia  is  the  general  geographical  name 
of  that  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Naples  which  is  situated  on  the 
northeastern  side  of  the  peninsula  of  Italy.  Herds  of  cattle 
to  the  number  of  two  hundred  thousand,  and  sheep  six  hundred 
thousand,  were  driven  twice  in  a  year  through  Apulia,  to  be 
pastured  in  the  winter,  in  the  south,  and  in  the  summer,  in  the 
highlands,  eastwardly  of  the  Apennines,  and  eastwardly  of 
Rome.  A  toll  collected  on  these  cattle  and  sheep,  was  the 
most  productive  revenue  of  the  crown.  Both  the  parties  were 
sensible  of  the  necessity  of  continuing  this  accustomed  transit 
of  the  cattle  and  sheep;  and  they  agreed,  that  whichever  party 
should  hold  dominion  over  this*  territory,  in  which  the  tolls 
were  collected,  at  the  proper  time  of  the  collection,  should  have 
the  right  to  it,  unmolested  by  the  other.  This  convention  led 
each  party  to  endeavor  to  become  the  strongest  in  Apulia. 
As  might  have  been  expected,  the  convention  served  only  to 
make  Apulia  the  scene  of  conflict.     Various  battles  ensued, 


NAPLES.  409 

and  neither  party  obtained  the  toll ;  while  the  cattle  and  the 
sheep  were  abandoned  to  the  pillage  of  the  soldiery.  The 
plains  were  covered  with  carcasses,  the  skins  being  the  only 
spoil  which  the  soldiers  could  carry  away.  The  ruined  shep- 
herds were  disregarded  in  this  distressing  consequence  of 
the  war. 

Charles  VIII.,  safe  in  France,  and  abandoned  to  pleasure, 
had  no  leisure  to  think  of  the  Frenchmen  who  were  defending 
themselves,  and  his  kingdom  of  Naples.  He  was  compelled, 
at  length,  to  listen  to  the  importunities  of  friends  and  family 
connexions  of  these  Frenchmen,  and  some  troops  were  em- 
barked in  the  south  of  France  to  aid  them.  Not  one  of  them 
arrived  at  their  destination.  The  Swiss,  and  the  Germans, 
who  were  hired  troops  of  the  French  in  Italy,  had  not  received 
any  wages  for  a  long  time.  Their  murmurs,  and,  at  length, 
their  threats,  added  to  the  distresses  of  the  French  generals. 
The  two  principal  ones,  Montpensier  and  Precy,  were  never 
agreed  in  the  proper  measures  to  be  pursued.  Deaths  and 
desertions  were  daily  diminishing  the  ranks. 

In  July,  1795,  the  principal  part  of  the  French  army  had 
been  concentrated  in  that  province  of  the  kingdom  called  Basi- 
licata,  south  of  Naples,  and  bounding  on  the  gulf  of  Tarento. 
The  small  town  of  Attala,  in  that  province,  was  their  only 
possession.  Here,  Montpensier  was  compelled  to  capitulate, 
and,  after  long  negotiations,  it  was  agreed  that  the  French 
should  march  to  Baia,  a  port  twelve  miles  south  of  Naples,  and 
depart  from  thence.  While  arrangements  were  making  here 
to  accomplish  this  object,  a  pestilence  broke  out  among  the 
French,  and  Montpensier  was  among  the  first  to  fall  by  it. 
The  destruction  of  lives  was  so  great  before  the  embarkation, 
and  while  on  ship-board,  that  of  the  five  thousand  of  the  French 
army  who  were  gathered  at  Baia,  not  five  hundred  of  them 
ever  reached  France.  Thus  ended  the  celebrated  expedition 
of  Charles  VIII.  to  conquer  Naples.,  A  measure  to  be  sus- 
tained neither  by  right,  necessity,  policy,  nor  the  wildest  crav- 
ing of  military  glory.  Yet  the  French  of  the  present  day 
number  Charles  among  their  heroes,  and  upbraid  Comines 
and  all  others  who  treat  of  him  and  his  adventure,  according  to 
the  principles  of  justice  and  common  sense.  The  effect  of  this 
adventure  was  not  only  utterly  profitless,  but  extremely  disas- 
trous to  the  French,  while  it  unsettled  and  broke  up  the  gov- 
ernments of  the  free  states  of  Italy,  and  finally  made  that 
country  the  seat  of  long-continued  and  desolating  wars. 
35 


410  NAPLES. 

The  gallant  and  successful  Ferdinand  II.  was  not  destined  to 
avail  himself  of  the  benefits  of  his  labors.  Excessive  fatigue  and 
exposure  while  superintending  the  departure  of  the  French, 
had  implanted  the  seeds  of  disease,  of  which  he  was  uncon- 
scious. As  soon  as  he  was  rid  of  his  enemies,  he  gave  way 
to  a  long-cherished  passion,  and,  to  the  astonishment  of  all 
Europe,  married  his  own  aunt,  of  about  his  own  age.  He 
retired  to  a  chateau  at  the  foot  of  Vesuvius,  with  his  bride,  and 
died  there,  the  7th  of  September,  1496,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
seven  years. 

Ferdinand  dying  without  leaving  any  child,  the  crown  went 
to  his  uncle  Frederick,  who  assumed  it  as  Frederick  III. 
This  king  was,  from  many  causes,  exceedingly  unpopular, 
and  unable  to  sustain  himself  on  the  throne.  At  this  time, 
Ferdinand  the  Catholic,  king  of  Spain,  and  the  husband  of 
Isabella,  was  king  of  Sicily.  On  the  death  of  Charles  VIII., 
the  duke  of  Orleans  became  king  of  France,  as  Louis  XII. 
The  Neapolitan  people  were  divided  in  opinion  between  Fer- 
dinand and  Louis.  Frederick  consented  to  abandon  his  king- 
dom to  Louis,  and  to  accept  a  pension  and  retire  to  France. 
This  measure  was  assented  to  by  Ferdinand  the  Catholic,  under 
an  agreement  with  Louis,  that  the  kingdom  of  Naples  should 
be  divided  between  them.  The  crafty  Ferdinand,  availing 
himself  of  his  neighborhood,  and  superior  advantages,  gradu- 
ally despoiled  Louis  of  his  share.  In  the  year  1504,  the  Two 
Sicilies  were  again  united,  and  became  an  appendage  of  the 
Spanish  crown  under  Ferdinand  the  Catholic. 

The  sketches  of  Naples  are  here  closed,  with  the  intention 
of  recurring  to  this  period  to  commence  the  third  survey  of 
Europe,  comprising  the  three  last  centuries. 


ROMAN    CHURCH.  411 

CHAPTER  LVIII. 

ROME,    THE    POPES,    AND    THE    CHURCH,    FROM   1000  TO    1500. 

[These  writers  have  been  consulted  in  making  this  compilation : — Gib- 
bon's Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  ;  Histoire  des  Republiques 
du  moyen  age,  par  Simonde  de  Sismondi ;  Tableau  des  Revolutions  de 
l'Europe,  par  M.  Koch  ;  Essai  sur  l'influence  des  Croisades,  par  Profes- 
seur  Heeren ;  Mosheim's  Institutions  of  Church  History ;  Waddington's 
History  of  the  Church;  Robertson's  History  of  Charles  V.-,  J.  C.  I. 
Gieseler's  Ecclesiastical  History,  translated  by  Rev.  F.  Cunningham ; 
View  of  the  state  of  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages,  by  Henry  Hal- 
lam.  Many  other  writers  have  been  consulted.  This  general  acknowl- 
edgment is  made  to  prevent  too  frequent  reference.] 

The  longest  branch  of  the  Tiber  rises  in  the  Apennine 
mountains,  about  thirty-five  miles  directly  east  of  Florence. 
It  flows  south-eastwardly  until  it  comes  within  about  twenty 
miles  of  Rome ;  then  south-west wardly  through  Rome  to  the 
Tuscan  sea,  a  distance  of  about  thirty-two  miles.  Twelve 
miles  from  the  sea  it  passes  through  Rome.  The  longitude 
of  this  city  is  veiy  near  13°  east;  its  latitude  very  near  42° 
north.  It  is  four  hundred  and  ten  miles  south-south-west  from 
Vienna ;  six  hundred  south-east  from  Paris ;  seven  hundred 
and  thirty  east  by  north  from  Madrid ;  seven  hundred  and 
sixty  west  from  Constantinople ;  one  hundred  and  ten  north- 
west from  Naples ;  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  south- 
south-east  from  Florence. 

The  history  of  Rome,  in  these  five  centuries,  is  little  other 
than  the  history  of  the  popes.  Their  history  includes  that  of 
the  Roman  church  ;  and  the  agency  of  the  church  is  apparent 
in  the  history  of  every  kingdom  and  state  of  Europe.  The 
rise  and  the  exercise  of  papal  authority  has  been  reserved  for 
notice  in  this  place,  that  a  connected  view  may  be  had  of  the 
most  imposing  and  extraordinary  power  ever  exercised  by 
man  over  his  fellow-man.  However  feeble,  contemptible,  and 
even  insulted  the  popes  may  have  been  in  the  city  which  was 
their  seat  of  empire,  they  were  tyrannically  sovereign  else- 
where in  Europe.  The  curse  of  a  pope  was  terrible  through- 
out the  Christian  community,  from  the  crowned  head  down  to 
the  lowest  subject.  The  elements  of  papal  power  were,  1. 
Physical  force.     2.  Power  over  person,  liberty,  property,  and 


412 


ROMAN    CHURCH. 


the  enjoyments  of  life.  3.  Power  to  bestow  favors,  benefits, 
honors  and  riches,  as  well  as  to  take  them  away.  4.  Absolute 
power  over  hopes  and  fears  in  future  life.  All  these  elements 
of  dominion  the  popes  contrived  (in  the  darkness  of  the  middle 
ages)  to  concentrate  in  the  tenant  of  the  holy  chair  of  Saint 
Peter.  Whether  these  tenants  were,  as  they  successively  ap- 
peared, resolute  or  timid,  wise  or  imbecile,  virtuous  or  crimi- 
nal, the  moment  they  were  authorized  to  assume  the  papal 
crown,  they  became  sovereign  over  all  Christians.  Kings 
were  their  inferiors,  and  obliged  to  do  them  the  reverence  of 
kissing  their  feet.  This  wonderful  superiority  was  the  slow 
acquisition  of  centuries,  and  was  not  always  held  unimpaired. 
Its  preservation  sometimes  depended  on  the  qualities  of  the 
reigning  potentate  ;  but  that  which  an  incompetent  one  lost,  an 
able  successor  recovered,  and,  usually,  with  it,  an  augmented 
power,  until  it  obtained  its  ultimate  grandeur,  which  wras  neces- 
sarily followed  by  its  first  step  of  declension. 

Rome  was  the  peculiar  place  where  this  authority  could 
best  be  assumed.  It  had  long  been  the  seat  of  earthly  empire- 
St.  Paul  had  suffered  martyrdom,  and  St.  Peter  was  assumed 
to  have  been  buried  in  this  city.  It  was  also  the  place  of 
sepulchre  of  St.  Lawrence  and  of  many  other  saints.  Numer- 
ous miracles  had  been  wrought  by  the  relics  of  these  saints, 
as  Gregory  the  Great  solemnly  certified  to  the  empress  Con- 
stantia  (of  Constantinople)  in  the  year  592.  The  same  Greg- 
ory, in  the  year  596,  says  to  the  patriarch  of  Antioch, — "  I 
send  you  keys  of  the  blessed  apostle  Peter,  your  guardian, 
which,  when  placed  upon  the  sick,  are  wont  to  be  resplendent 
with  numerous  miracles."  The  confession  of  sins  to  prelates, 
introduced  by  Leo  the  Great,  between  the  years  440  and  461 ; 
the  purification  of  souls,  in  purgatory,  (borrowed  from  the 
pagan  superstition  of  the  Greeks,  who  probably  derived  it 
from  the  Egyptians,  and  they  from  India  ;)  and  the  worship  of 
images,  also  of  pagan  origin,  were  among  the  means  used  to 
subdue  the  minds  of  Christians.  The  right  to  expel  an  un- 
worthy member  of  a  society,  common  among  the  Jews,  and 
incident  to  all  societies,  arose,  under  papal  management,  to  the 
terrible  denunciation  of  anathema  or  excommunication,  and 
extended  to  crowned  heads  and  entire  kingdoms.  The  most 
extraordinary  power  exercised  by  the  popes  was  founded  in 
what  are  called  the  False  Decretals. 

In  Waddington's  History  of  the  Church,  p.  195,  the  false 
decretals  are  stated  to  have  appeared  in  the  time  of  Adrian  I., 
who  was  pope  from  772  to  795.     In  Cunningham's  transla- 


ROMAN    CHURCH.  413 

tion  of  Professor  Gieseler's  "  Text-book  of  Ecclesiastical  His 
tory,"  vol.  ii.  p.  67,  these  decretals  are  said  to  have  been  written 
1  between  829  and  845,  in  France,  and  that  "  Benedict  Levita, 
of  Mentz,  may  be  justly  suspected  of  a  share  in  the  forgery." 
This  forgery  has  been  commonly  attributed  to  Isodore,  who- 
ever that  person  may  have  been.  It  is  not  material  to  the 
present  purpose  to  ascertain  by  whom,  nor  at  what  time,  these 
forgeries  were  made,  but  only  to  show  that  before  the  time  of 
Gregory  VII.  they  were  known  and  treated  as  authentic,  and 
to  show,  also,  their  tenor  and  effect.  One  part  of  these  decre- 
tals purported  to  be  the  donation  of  the  emperor  Constantine, 
made  at  the  time  of  his  removal  of  the  seat  of  empire  from 
Rome  to  Constantinople,  (about  the  year  325,)  whereby  he 
consigned  the  western  empire  to  "  the  temporal  as  well  as  the 
spiritual  government  of  the  bishop  of  Rome."  It  also  pur- 
ported to  be  a  gift,  to  that  bishop,  of  "  unbounded  dominion 
over  churches,  nations,  and  kings,  as  the  successor  of  Saint 
Peter  and  the  vicar  of  Christ.^  Another  part  of  the  false 
decretals  purported  to  be  a  compilation  of  the  epistles  and 
decrees  of  the  primitive  popes  and  early  emperors,  extending 
the  spiritual  omnipotence  of  the  pope  to  the  earliest  days  of 
Christianity,  and  deriving  his  authority  directly  from  Saint 
Peter. 

It  may  be  supposed  that  the  donation  of  Constantine  was 
known  before  that  part  of  the  decretals  which  Gieseler  attrib- 
utes to  Levita.  Both  were  known  in  the  ninth  century,  and 
it  was  pretended  that  they  had  been  recently  discovered.  They 
were  received  and  treated  as  authentic  and  indisputable,  and 
were  (says  Gieseler)  used  by  the  popes,  "beginning  with 
Nicholas  I.,  (who  died  in  867,)  without  any  material  opposi- 
tion, maintaining  their  authority  until  the  reformation  led  to 
the  detection  of  the  cheat." 

By  the  time  that  Gregory  VII.  came  to  the  pontificate,  (in 
1074,)  the  decretals  were  a  fundamental  part  of  papal  authori- 
ty, and  were  the  basis  of  the  astonishing  power  which  he 
assumed,  exercised,  and  left  as  the  rules  of  action  for  his  suc- 
cessors. 

The  Roman  church  attained  to  its  highest  power  between 
the  year  1073,  when  Hildebrand  was  elected,  (Gregory  VII.,) 
and  the  fall  of  Boniface  VIII.,  in  1303.  In  these  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  years,  the  three  most  eminent  men  who  appear- 
ed on  the  papal  throne,  were  the  two  above  named,  and  Inno- 
cent III.,  who  was  pope  from  1198  to  1216.  There  were 
some  others  in  this  time  who  ably  sustained  the  pretensions  of 
35* 


414  ROMAN    CHURCH. 

the  Holy  See ;  but  these  three  are  the  men  upon  whom  history 
charges  the  pontifical  usurpations.  The  unity  of  purpose 
maintained  by  them  makes  it  proper  to  consider  these  two 
hundred  and  thirty  years  as  one  epoch,  and  to  arrange,  under 
distinct  heads,  the  acts  of  usurpation  as  to  the  church  and  as 
to  temporal  authority.  It  is  to  be  remembered  throughout* 
that  one  object  of  these  three  popes  was  to  maintain  an  abso- 
lute and  tyrannical  dominion  over  all  grades  of  the  clergy,  by 
making  them  entirely  dependent  on  the  supreme  head,  and  to 
use  them  as  subservient  ministers  in  effecting  the  subjection  of 
aH  temporal  authority.  The  other  object  was  to  reduce  empe- 
rors, kings,  princes,  their  subjects  and  territories  to  submission. 
To  do  this,  these  popes  availed  themselves  of  the  principle  of 
the  feudal  tenure.  They  assumed  to  be  supreme  lords,  and 
to  require  of  all  potentates  to  acknowledge  that  their  domin- 
ions were  held,  under  them,  as  the  representatives  of  St.  Peter 
on  earth.  To  this  they  added  the  exclusive  jurisdiction  over 
all  offences,  whether  temporal  or  spiritual ;  and  crowned  the 
whole  of  this  earthly  supremacy  with  the  power  of  disposing 
of  the  souls  of  men  throughout  an  endless  existence. 

If  one  is  astonished  and  shocked  at  this  arrogance,  it  is  to 
be  remembered,  that  it  arose  when  the  people*  the  nobles,  and 
the  princes  of  Europe  were  alike  ignorant  of  social,  moral, 
and  political  rights,  and  when  mere  physical  strength,  or  the 
intellectual  superiority  of  the  clergy,  were  the  only  powers 
which  could  make  law  and  enforce  obedience.  The  passing 
from  one  part  of  Europe  to  another,  and  even  within  the 
limits  of  the  same  kingdom  or  state,  was  difficult  and  often 
perilous.  Written  communications  were  limited  to  very  few, 
and  these  could  be  made  only  by  special  messengers.  A 
large  majority  of  all  the  people  of  Europe  had  no  other  mode 
of  acquiring  knowledge  but  by  spoken  words,  and  these  were 
more  frequently  received  from  an  interested  and  selfish  priest- 
hood than  from  any  other  persons.  The  use  of  printing  as 
means  of  information,  and  the  use  of  public  carriers  to  dissem- 
inate that  information,  were  unknown  till  nearly  four  centuries 
after  this  time.  Not  only  were  the  princes  and  people  igno- 
rant and  barbarous,  but  the  parts  of  Europe  inhabited  by 
Christians,  were  divided  into  small  principalities,  duchies,  and 
counties,  in  which  there  were  sovereigns  bound  by  allegiance 
to  some  superior.  If  that  superior  was  a  king  or  emperor,  he 
was  only  first  among  equals,  and  was  often  at  war  with  his 
vassals,  and  they  with  each  other.  One  half  of  all  the  Chris- 
tian territory  was  held  by  prelates  and  ecclesiastical  establish-. 


ROMAN    CHURCH. 


415 


merits,  but  under  the  same  feudal  tenure.  No  temporal  force 
could  be  combined  among  these  feudal  sovereigns ;  but  their 
contentions  among  themselves  enabled  the  popes  to  interpose, 
in  various  modes,  on  the  one  side  and  the  other,  and  always 
with  the  design  of  establishing  their  own  dominion. 

The  comprehensive  plan  of  Gregory,  which  he  partly  ac- 
complished himself,  and  induced  his  successors  to  follow  out, 
will  be  seen  in  the  successive  measures  which  took  place  in 
the  two  hundred  and  thirty  years  of  papal  grandeur.  The 
two  great  objects,  the  dependence  of  the  clergy  on  the  pope, 
and  the  subjection  of  temporal  authority  to  the  pope,  were 
made  to  be  auxiliary  to  each  other.  The  spiritual  was  used 
to  subdue  the  temporal  power ;  and  when  the  latter  could  be 
used  to  subdue  the  former,  means  were  found  to  call  it  into 
action.  The  most  intelligible  form  in  which  these  usurpations 
can  be  presented,  will  be  that  of  arrangement  under  distinct 
heads.  It  will  be  seen,  however,  that  any  such  classification 
cannot  be  strictly  observed,  as  the  two  objects  are  often  inter- 
mingled in  the  same  course  of  measures. 

Professor  Geiseler's  opinion  of  Gregory  VII.  (vol.  ii.  of 
Cunningham's  translation,  p.  159)  will  be  entirely  sustained 
by  the  summary  of  facts  which  follow.  "  When  we  consider 
him,  not  as  a  statesman,  but  in  the  light  in  which  he  placed 
himself,  as  the  head  of  the  church  and  an  apostle  of  Christian 
truth,  we  cannot  but  revolt  at  his  cold,  mere  diplomatic  char- 
acter. Instead  of  the  truth,  and  all-embracing  love  demanded 
by  the  position  in  which  he  stood,  we  find  in  him  an  iron  will 
and  an  unscrupulous  use  of  any  means  which  might  suit  his 
ends." 

Hildebrand  was  an  Italian  of  humble  origin.  He  devoted 
himself  to  the  church  at  an  early  age,  and  rose,  by  his  genius, 
studies,  austerity,  and  boundless  ambition,  to  the  papal  chair, 
under  the  name  of  Gregory  VII.,  in  1073.  The  declared 
principle  of  his  action  was  this : — "  The  pope,  in  quality  of 
vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  ought  to  be  superior  to  every  human 
power."  He  was  the  author  of  the  great  change  in  the  elec- 
tion of  popes,  by  transferring  the  power  to  Roman  ecclesias- 
tics, and  preparing  the  way  for  making  the  choice  perfect 
without  any  confirmation  by  temporal  authority.  This  meas- 
ure resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  electoral  college  of 
cardinals. 

We  have  now  to  notice  the  measures  adopted  by  him  to 
carry  out  this  principle,  first,  as  to  all  ecclesiastics  ;  secondly^ 
as  to  all  temporal  authority,  under  several  heads. 


416  ROMAN    CHURCH. 

Investitures.  Up  to  Gregory's  time,  bishops,  abbots,  and 
other  dignitaries  were  chosen  by  the  inferior  clergy,  and  some 
lay  associates,  and  were  invested,  or  qualified  for  office,  by 
some  act  done  by  the  feudal  lord,  if  estate  was  annexed  to  the 
office  for  which  allegiance  was  due.  Charlemagne  is  said  to 
have  conferred  the  ring,  the  crosier,  (a  staff  with  a  cross  on  it,) 
and  the  pallium,  (a  mantle  or  garment,)  as  the  emblems  of  of- 
fice. These  were  feudal  ceremonies.  When  a  vassal  took  a 
fief  or  estate  from  his  lord,  one  of  the  ceremonies  was,  the 
clothing  of  the  vassal,  by  the  lord,  with  a  vest,  indicative  of 
possession  of  the  fief,  and  consequent  allegiance.  Whence  the 
term  of  investiture  was  adopted,  in  the  appointment  or  qualifi- 
cation of  prelates.  Gregory  intended  to  annul  this  connexion 
between  feudal  lords  and  all  officers  of  the  church,  and  to  make 
the  latter  exclusively  dependent  on  himself.  The  great  extent 
of  landed  estate  held  by  the  clergy,  in  the  relation  of  vassals, 
throughout  the  Christian  states,  made  this  relation  of  great  im- 
portance to  temporal  sovereigns.  The  success  of  Gregory's 
project  would  have  deprived  them  of  all  superiority  over  the 
prelates,  and  would  have  transferred  the  allegiance  to  him. 
This  project  was  resisted  and  led  to  a  most  vindictive  war, 
which  continued  through  60  years,  to  the  time  of  Calixtus  II. 
A  compromise  was  then  made,  and  the  ceremonies  of  the  ring, 
crosier,  and  pallium,  were  yielded  to  the  pope,  while  the  em- 
perors established  the  right  of  confirmation,  and  feudal  superi- 
ority by  touching  the  elected  prelate  with  the  sceptre ;  a  con- 
cession much  in  favor  of  the  popes. 

The  appointment  of  all  the  clergy  by  the  pope,  or  by  his  au- 
thority. To  accomplish  this  object,  various  projects  were  un- 
dertaken by  Gregory.  He  could  not  await  the  slow  process  of 
vacancies  by  death.  It  was  necessary  to  create  vacancies. 
He  intended  to  make  a  very  general  reform  in  the  tenure 
of  offices,  as  nearly  all  of  them  had  been  obtained  by  simo- 
ny, or  corrupt  purchase.  He  tried  the  strength  of  his  pow- 
er, by  excommunicating  certain  priests  in  the  German  em- 
pire, for  the  reason  that  they  had  purchased  their  offices.  He 
required  of  Henry  IV.  to  dismiss  them.  By  this  act  he 
meant  to  try  his  strength  with  Henry.  The  requisition  be- 
ing disregarded,  Gregory  summoned  Henry  to  Rome.  This 
emperor  was  young,  arbitrary,  dissolute,  and  of  very  inferior 
education ;  and  was,  at  this  time,  contending  with  some  of  his 
rebellious  subjects.  Henry  did  not  obey,  but  assembled  a  num- 
ber of  bishops  at  the  city  of  Worms,  and  procured  a  sentence 
that  Gregory  should  no  longer  be  obeyed  as  Pope.  Gregory 
assembled  a  council  in  the  Lateran  palace,  and  excommunicated 


ROMAN    CHURCH.  417 

Henry — deprived  him  of  the  kingdoms  of  Germany  and  Italy 
— discharged  all  his  subjects  from  allegiance,  and  forbade  them 
to  obey  him  as  sovereign.  Henry  found  himself  immediately 
deserted  by  all  his  adherents.  Terrified  and  helpless,  he  crossed 
the  Alps  in  mid-winter,  by  unusual  and  difficult  paths,  (to  avoid 
his  enemies,)  intending  to  cast  himself  at  the  feet  of  Gregory 
and  implore  absolution. 

Gregory  was  at  Canosa,  a  fortress  10  miles  S.  W.  of  the 
city  of  Reggio,  which  is  situate  between  Parma  and  Modena. 
This  fortress  belonged  to  Matilda,  countess  of  Tuscany,  whom 
Gregory  was  then  visiting,  at  that  place.  The  castle  was  sur- 
rounded by  three  walls.  Henry  was  admitted  through  the  two 
outer  ones,  his  guards  remaining  without  the'  exterior  one. 
Here  he  remained  three  successive  days,  in  a  woollen  shirt, 
and- barefooted,  "  while  Gregory,  shut  up  with  the  countess,  re- 
fused to  admit  him  to  his  presence."  (Hallam.)  On  the  fourth 
day  absolution  was  obtained  on  condition,  that  he  should  appear 
at  a  future  day  to  learn  the  pope's  pleasure,  whether  he  should 
be  restored  to  his  kingdom.  The  Germans  chose  another  em- 
peror, (Rodolph,)  on  whom  Gregory  bestowed  the  crown,  with 
a  Latin  verse,  importing  that  it  was  given  by  virtue  of  the  orig- 
inal commission  of  St.  Peter.  But  such  are  human  vicissi- 
tudes, that  Henry  recovered  the  throne,  defeated  Rodolph,  pro- 
cured a  council  to  depose  Gregory,  and  caused  Clement  III.  to 
be  elected,  and  hastened  to  Rome  to  place  him  on  the  papal 
throne,  (in  the  year  1080.)  Gregory  passed  three  years  as  a 
prisoner  in  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo,  but  could  not  be  induced 
to  compromit  the  rights  of  the  church.  Robert  Guiscard,  a 
Norman  prince,  whom  Gregory  had  made  duke  of  Apulia, 
(on  the  N.  E.  coast  of  lower  Italy,)  liberated  him,  but  the  Ro- 
mans compelled  him  to  leave  the  city,  and  he  died  an  exile  at 
Salerno,  a  few  miles  S.  E.  of  Naples.  The  spirit  which  he 
had  infused  into  the  church  did  not  die  with  him.  Henry  died, 
also,  dethroned,  and  in  poverty. 

The  countess  Matilda  reigned  over  an  extensive  territory  in 
Italy,  on  both  sides  of  the  Apennines.  Her  right  was  derived 
from  count  Boniface,  at  a  time  of  which  there  are  very  imper- 
fect records.  This  donation  was  made  in  1077,  and  was  re- 
newed by  the  countess  in  1102,  in  favor  of  Pascal  II.  A  part 
of  the  territories  included  in  the  gift  were  held  under  feudal 
tenure,  and  liable  to  return  to  the  superior  lord,  on  failure  of 
feudal  heirs;  and  a  part  was  allodial,  or  held  in  the  countess' 
own  right.  Of  the  former  description  were  Tuscany,  the 
duchy  of  Lucca,  and  the  cities  of  Mantua,  Parma,  Modena,  and 


418  ROMAN    CHURCH. 

Reggio,  and  their  dependencies,  in  Lombardy.  Of  the  second 
description  were  the  lands  near  to  Rome,  since  known  as  the 
patrimony  of  St.  Peter.  From  this  indiscriminate  donation, 
obstinate  contests  arose  between  the  popes  and  the  emperors, 
(the  latter  being  the  feudal  superiors  of  the  countess,)  which 
continued  till  1115,  when  Frederick  II.  made  a  confirmation 
of  the  gift  to  pope  Honorious  III.  The  patrimony  of  St.  Pe- 
ter is  bounded  by  the  Tiber,  in  its  south-eastwardly  course,  and 
then  by  its  south-westwardly  course,  and  by  the  Tuscan  sea. 
This  territory  is  about  60  miles  long,  and  40  wide,  north- 
wardly of  Rome.  (Koch,  vol.  1.  p.  124.) 

Charlemagne  having  assumed  to  revive  the  empire  of  the 
west,  he  caused  himself  to  be  crowned  in  venerable  Rome,  and 
by  the  sacred  authority  of  the  pope,  (Dec.  25,  800.)  The  popes 
converted  this  ceremony  into  an  acknowledgment  of  their  su- 
premacy. They  sought  to  have  it  believed,  throughout  Eu- 
rope, that  no  person  could  lawfully  exercise  the  power  of  em- 
peror, who  had  not  been  crowned  by  a  pope  at  Rome.  To  im- 
part solemnity  to  a  temporal  act,  by  associating  with  it  a  reli- 
gious ceremony,  may  have  been  the  intention  of  Charles.  But 
the  popes  found  it  practicable  to  make  the  religious  ceremony 
the  substance  of  the  thing  to  be  done ;  and  to  cause  themselves 
to  be  regarded,  not  as  doing  an  act  of  consecration,  but  as  exer- 
cising a  sovereign  power  in  bestowing  a  crown.  The  crown- 
ing of  Charles  laid  the  foundation  of  .the  long  and  bitter  con- 
flict between  the  emperors  and  popes.  The  emperors  sought 
to  establish  a  universal  monarchy,  and  to  make  the  popes  sub- 
ordinate. The  popes  meant  to  have  an  unlimited  hierarchy, 
and  to  make  all  things,  and  all  persons,  submissive  to  them- 
selves. This  conflict  is  the  prominent  historical  trait  for  cen- 
turies. 

Though  Gregory  was  not  successful  in  this  twofold  measure 
pursued  with  Henry,  of  withdrawing  the  clergy  from  tempo- 
ral authority,  and  subjecting  an  emperor  to  the  church,  he  was 
more  fortunate  in  other  measures,  intended  to  bring  the  clergy 
under  subjection.  He  did  not  remain  in  power  long  enough 
to  accomplish  some  of  them,  but  he  opened  the  way  to  his  suc- 
cessors. By  a  series  of  ingenious  usurpations,  all  the  great 
dignitaries  of  the  church,  in  every  state  in  Europe,  were  made 
to  depend  on  the  pope  for  confirmation ;  and,  at  length,  the  ex- 
clusive appointment  was  secured,  with  the  burthensome  requi- 
sition, that  every  metropolitan  (or  archbishop)  should  appear, 
in  person,  at  Rome,  to  receive  the  pallium  from  the  hand  of  the 
pope.     He  was  also  required  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance,  and 


ROMAN    CHURCH.  419 

to  swear  to  defend  the  pope  against  every  man  who  should  at- 
tempt to  impair  or  deny  his  authority.  The  steps  by  which 
this  achievement  was  arrived  at,  are  fully  narrated  by  many 
writers,  in  detail.  (Hallam,  Koch,  Sismondi,  and  in  histories 
of  the  church.)  It  is  enough,  for  the  present  purpose,  to  state, 
that  this  dominion  over  the  priesthood,  was  secured  in  Grego- 
ry's time,  and  by  his  successors. 

Celibacy  of  the  clergy.  This  was  not  a  new  measure  with 
Gregory,  but  had  been  required,  though  wholly  disregarded, 
200  years  before.  The  rigid  enforcement  of  this  requisition 
was  new.  It  may  be,  that  Gregory  thought  it  proper  that 
priests  should  not  have  family  connexions ;  but  a  much  more 
important  object  with  him  was,  to  withdraw  all  the  clergy  from 
a  connexion  with  wordly  cares  and  interests,  and  to  concen- 
trate all  hopes,  fears  and  affections  in  the  church,  and  its  su- 
preme head.  Very  serious  difficulties  followed  the  command 
to  all  ecclesiastics,  to  put  away  their  wives,  and  to  separate 
themselves  from  their  families.  It  is  suggested  that  these  diffi- 
culties induced  Gregory  to  raise  up  a  new  order  of  priesthood, 
next  to  be  mentioned. 

The  religious  orders.  There  had  been  numerous  orders  of 
religious  persons  from  an  early  age  of  the  church,  united  in 
fraternities,  and  holding  extensive  landed  estates  under  the 
name  of  monasteries.  All  these  ecclesiastics,  as  such  tenants, 
were  bound  to  some  feudal  duties,  and  could  not  be  made  so 
exclusively  dependent  on  the  head  of  the  church  as  the  system 
of  Gregory  required.  The  rules  prescribed  to  the  religious 
orders,  (with  some  amendments  by  other  hands,)  by  St.  Bene- 
dict, had  governed  all  these  orders  up  to  the  time  of  Gregory. 
To  him  is  attributed  the  design  of  separating  them  from  the 
established  church,  and  making  them  an  efficient  army,  depend- 
ent on  the  popes  only.  They  were  intended  to  penetrate  into 
the  very  bosom  of  society,  and  to  obtain  an  absolute  empire 
over  the  thoughts  of  men ;  in  short,  to  create  and  maintain  a 
despotism  over  the  mind,  deriving  its  character  entirely  from 
the  papal  head.  This  system  was  begun  in  Gregory's  time,  by 
an  order  at  Grandmont,  in  Lamousin,  the  south-west  of  France. 
This  was  followed  by  the  order  of  Carthusians,  in  the  same 
age.  The  mendicant  orders  began  in  the  time  of  Innocent  III., 
about  the  year  1200.  These  monkish  orders  had  increased  to 
such  numbers,  that  Gregory  X.,  who  was  pope  from  1271  to 
1276,  reduced  them  to  four  orders: — 1.  The  Augustines.  2. 
The  Carmelites.  3.  The  Franciscans.  4.  The  Dominicans. 
The  two  latter  orders  were  the  special  ministers  of  the  popes, 


420  ROMAN    CHURCH. 

and  are  usually  spoken  of  as  the  mendicant  orders.  **  Never," 
says  professor  Gieseler,  "  had  the  popes  possessed  instruments 
so  well  fitted  to  work  on  the  mass  of  the  people,  as  now  in  the 
mendicant  monks ;  and  it  was  natural,  therefore,  that  they  should 
seek  to  increase  their  consequence  by  conferring  on  them  va- 
rious privileges."     [Cunningham's  translation,  vol.  2.  p.  291.] 

By  degrees,  these  orders  were  exempted  from  all  jurisdiction 
of  the  bishops,  and  made  accountable  only  to  their  own  "  gene- 
rals," and  to  the  popes.  They  were  bound  to  severe  privations 
under  solemn  oath,  and  among  others,  to  that  of  poverty,  and 
were  required  to  subsist  on  charity,  whence  their  name  of 
mendicants.  But  they  were  compensated  by  great  privileges ; 
they  were  authorized  to  preach,  to  receive  the  confession  of 
sins,  and  to  be  instructers  of  the  young.  They  were  employed 
as  legates  and  missionaries,  and  rose  to  be  highly  respected 
and  feared  even  by  sovereigns,  while  they  obtained  an  un- 
bounded influence  over  the  people.  It  could  not  be  otherwise 
than  that  such  a  powerful  body,  familiar  to  every  part  of  the 
Christian  world,  and  capable  of  insinuating  themselves  among 
all  descriptions  of  persons  of  both  sexes,  should  acquire  an 
absolute  control  over  the  members  of  society.  Nor  could  they 
act  otherwise  than  to  devote  themselves  to  the  exaltation  of  that 
authority  from  which  they  derived  all  their  importance.  In- 
telligent, adroit,  artful,  no  act  could  be  done  among  men  to 
which  they  were  not  parties.  The  apparent  austerity  of  their 
own  lives  permitted  them  to  exercise  an  unlimited  authority 
over  the  hopes  and  fears  of  the  laity,  as  to  future  life.  So 
entirely  successful  was  this  measure  of  extending  and  confirm- 
ing the  papal  supremacy,  that  the  regular  clergy  were  com- 
pelled to  submit  themselves,  and  to  follow  these  new  dignita- 
ries, instead  of  leading,  as  they  before  had  done,  their  respective 
Christian  communities.  This  theory  was  simple,  and  easily 
practicable,  in  that  age  of  ignorance  and  barbarism.  Like 
theories  have  been  adopted  in  ages  better  informed  in  political 
affairs.  If  a  chief  can  identify  his  own  supremacy  with  a  host 
of  dependent  interested  supporters,  a  power  arises  which  truth 
and  reason  cannot  control,  nor  successfully  resist. 

The  independence  of  the  clergy  on  all  temporal  tribunals, 
and  the  clerical  jurisdiction  over  the  persons  and  property  of 
laymen.  In  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  the  clergy,  being  the 
most  learned  and  capable,  were  called  to  the  administration  of 
justice.  In  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  the  courts, 
mostly  composed  of  ecclesiastical  judges,  assumed  exclusive 
jurisdiction  over  all  persons  and  property  connected  with  the 


ROMAN    CHURCH.  421 

church.  This  assumption  gradually  extended  itself  by  direct 
and  indirect  means.  It  was  made  soon  to  include  all  persons 
who  needed  protection  against  temporal  power.  Orphans, 
widows,  strangers,  the  poor  pilgrims,  and  every  description  of 
persons  in  distress,  were  ta^en  under  the  care  of  this  jurisdic- 
tion. This  included  all  persons  who  were  engaged  in  the 
crusades.  The  temporal  tribunals  admitted  that  spiritual 
tribunals  had  jurisdiction,  exclusively,  in  all  spiritual  contro- 
versies. By  construction,  almost  every  act  done  by  men  might 
have  a  spiritual  character,  as  it  implied  right  or  wrong,  and 
might  therefore  be  sinful,  and  consequently  a  proper  subject 
for  a  religious  judge.  Though  litigations  on  the  right  to 
landed  estate  could  not  be  brought  into  clerical  courts,  as  this 
right  depended  on  evidence  of  facts,  yet  wherever  there  was  a 
trust  connected  with  an  oath,  so  that  the  conscience  of  a  party 
might  be  dealt  with,  jurisdiction  was  assumed.  All  questions 
of  person  or  property  arising  from  the  relation  of  marriage, 
fell  under  the  same  jurisdiction.  All  persons  who  made  wills 
or  testaments,  were  reminded  of  the  duty  of  providing  for  the 
church,  and  these  instruments  were  usually  drawn  up  by  a 
priest.  Consequently  the  settlement  of  estates  devolved  on  the 
clerical  tribunals,  because  the  church  was  therein  interested. 
Various  crimes,  as  they  were  emphatically  sins,  and  conse- 
quently offences  against  the  church,  were  drawn  to  the  same 
tribunals.  Such  comprehensive  judicial  power  required  means 
to  execute  sentences.  Excommunication,  however  terrible, 
was  not  adequate  in  all  cases.  The  right  of  imprisoning  lay 
offenders  was  acquired  by  bishops.  Clerical  offenders  were 
imprisoned  in  monasteries.  These  brief  suggestions  disclose 
the  progress  of  a  tremendous  power  which  veiled  its  arrogance 
and  usurpations  under  a  tender  care  of  men's  souls,  while  it  in 
fact  disposed,  according  to  its  own  will,  of  person  and  property, 
in  almost  all  the  relations  of  life.  This  power  (as  will  be  next 
seen)  extended  itself  to  princes  and  kingdoms. 

The  final  jurisdiction  of  the  head  of  the  church,  in  all  cases, 
by  icay  of  appeal.  It  was  easy  for  the  popes,  Gregory  VII. 
setting  the  example,  to  encourage  an  appeal  to  the  supreme 
head  at  Rome,  in  all  controversies  between  clergymen,  whether 
relating  to  person  or  property.  The  unsuccessful  party,  in 
any  inferior  tribunal,  would  naturally  hope  a  favorable  result 
in  a  new  investigation.  Hence  arose  the  practice  of  bringing 
numerous  suits  before  this  appellate  jurisdiction.  But  this 
did  not  satisfy  papal  ambition.  Cases  which  did  not  concern 
clergymen,  nor  laymen,  whether  as  to  person,  or  property,  or 
36 


422  CANON    LAW. 

crime,  (which  had  fallen  under  ecclesiastical  courts,  as  before 
stated,)  were  carried,  by  appeal,  to  Rome.  Thus  Philip  of 
France,  and  Richard  of  England,  contending  for  the  right  to  a 
fief,  an  appeal  was  made  to  Innocent  III.  "  Though  I  cannot 
judge,"  said  he,  "as  to  the  right  to  a  fief,  yet  it  is  in  my 
province  to  judge  whether  sin  is  committed,  and  to  prevent  all 
public  scandals."  The  same  pope  ordered  the  king  of  Navarre 
to  restore  certain  castles  to  Richard,  on  pain  of  excommunica- 
tion. He  also  assumed  a  general  supervision  over  all  princes 
and  kingdoms,  requiring  that  all  disputes  among  them  should 
be  referred  to  the  pope.  The  instances  of  this  interposition 
are  numerous ;  and  disobedience  to  the  papal  mandate  usually 
drew  down  the  grievous  sentence  of  excommunication. 

The  most  remarkable  of  all  the  instances  of  papal  usurpa- 
tion was  that  of  Innocent  III.  over  John,  king  of  England. 
In  1 199,  a  vacancy  happened  in  the  see  of  Canterbury.  The 
monks  elected  John,  bishop  of  Norwich,  recommended  and 
confirmed  by  the  king.  At  the  same  time  they  secretly  chose 
Reginald,  their  own  sub-prior,  and  sent  him  to  Rome  for  in- 
stitution. Innocent  reversed  both  elections,  and  nominated 
Stephen  Langton.  The  monks  obeyed  the  pope.  The  king 
expelled  the  monks,  and  confiscated  their  property.  In  1201, 
Innocent  excommunicated  John,  who  did  not  regard  this  exer- 
cise of  power.  In  1211,  Innocent  absolved  all  John's  subjects 
from  allegiance,  and  commanded  them  to  avoid  his  presence. 
This  measure  not  proving  effectual,  Innocent  deposed  John, 
gave  his  kingdom  to  Philip  Augustus  of  France,  and  com- 
manded Philip  to  take  possession  by  force  of  arms,  and  pro- 
claimed a  crusade  against  John  as  an  infidel  and  heretic.  At 
the  moment  of  a  final  appeal  to  arms,  Pandulph,  the  pope's 
legate,  appeared  at  John's  camp  at  Dover,  and  presented  the 
final  decree  of  the  pope: — That  John  should  resign  his  crown 
to  the  legate,  and  receive  it  again  as  a  present  from  the  holy 
see ;  declare  his  dominions  tributary,  do  homage,  and  swear 
fealty  as  a  vassal  and  feudatory  to  Innocent.  The  pusillani- 
mous and  terrified  king  of  England  yielded  to  these  conditions, 
surrendered  his  kingdom,  took  the  oath  on  his  knees,  and  re- 
ceived his  crown  again  from  the  hand  of  Pandulph,  as  the 
representative  of  the  pope. 

The  canon  law.  The  judicial  authority  of  the  Roman 
church  having  been  extended  to  so  many  persons  and  subjects, 
a  code  of  laws  was  thought  necessary  as  rules  for  the  courts. 
Gratian,  an  Italian  monk,  published,  in  1151,  a  general  collec- 
tion of  canons,   epistles,   and  sentences,   arranged  after  the 


CANON    LAW.  423 

manner  of  the  civil  law,  which  had  then  become  a  subject  of 
study.  In  1234,  Raimond  de  Pennefort,  by  order  of  Gregory 
IX.,  made  a  compilation  in  five  books,  entitled  Decretalia  Gre- 
gorii  noni.  Additions  were  made  to  this  code  by  successors 
of  Gregory  IX.  Boniface  VIII.  added  a  sixth  book,  in  1298, 
called  Sextus  decretalium.  In  1317,  the  Clementine  constitu- 
tions (by  Clement  V.)  were  added  by  John  XXII.,  who  added 
twenty  constitutions  of  his  own.  Later  popes  added  other 
decrees  in  five  books,  called  extravagantes  communes.  As 
these  compilations  were  made  when  the  supremacy  of  the 
popes  had  been  assumed  over  all  temporal  power,  they  were 
adapted  to  protect  that  supremacy.  The  main  purpose  was  to 
establish,  by  law,  the  subjection  of  kings  and  princes  to  the 
spiritual  authority.  It  declared  that  subjects  owe  no  obedience 
to  an  excommunicated  lord ;  and  that  a  pope  may  dethrone  the 
emperor  for  lawful  causes,  of  which,  of  course,  the  pope  was 
the  sole  judge.  The  canon  law,  therefore,  was,  politically, 
only  the  publication,  in  the  form  of  a  code,  of  the  bold  usurpa- 
tions of  successive'  popes.  In  other  respects,  this  law  was 
entitled  to  great  consideration  in  that  age,  and  has  since  been 
intermingled  with  the  jurisprudence  of  all  Christian  nations. 
At  the  time  of  the  promulgation  of  the  canon  law,  the  civil 
law  was  diligently  studied  in  many  parts  of  Europe.  The 
study  of  the  canon  law  was  enjoined  on  all  ecclesiastical 
judges.  Hence  arose  two  new  orders  of  learned  men,  the 
jurists  and  the  canonists.  The  two  codes  became  illustrative 
of  each  other ;  and  these  two  orders  made  their  respective 
commentaries  as  new  cases  and  new  applications  of  principles 
arose.  Dr.  Robertson  says  of  the  canon  law, — "  That  as  a 
system  to  assist  the  clergy  in  usurping  powers,  jurisdiction, 
&c,  we  must  pronounce  it  one  of  the  most  formidable  engines 
ever  formed  against  the  happiness  of  civil  society.  If  we 
contemplate  it  merely  as  a  code  of  laws  respecting  the  rights 
and  property  of  individuals,  and  attend  only  to  its  civil  effects 
as  to  these,  we  must  view  it  in  a  different,  and  much  more 
favorable  light."  The  effect  of  this  usurpation  by  the  popes 
is  still  felt.  The  canon  and  the  civil  law  are  the  rules  in 
several  courts  of  England:  1.  The  ecclesiastical.  2.  The 
military  courts.  3.  The  admiralty  courts.  4.  The  courts  of 
the  two  universities.  But  the  courts  of  common  law  have  the 
superintendency  over  these  courts  ;  to  keep  them  within  their 
jurisdiction,  to  determine  wherein  they  exceed  them,  to  restrain 
and  prohibit  such  excess,  and,  in  case  of  contumacy,  to  punish 


424  CANON    LAW. 

the  officer  who  executes,  and,  in  some  cases,  the  judge  who 
enforces  the  sentence  so  declared  to  be  illegal. 

Besides  the  papal  institutions,  there  were  many  decrees  of 
synods  or  ecclesiastical  councils,  especially  in  England,  which 
may  be  ranked  as  parts  of  the  canon  law.  At  the  dawn  of 
the  reformation  (in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.)  an  act  passed  for 
the  revision  of  the  canon  law,  and  providing  that  until  that 
revision  was  made,  all  canons,  constitutions,  ordinances,  and 
synodals  provincial,  then  already  made,  and  not  repugnant  to 
the  law  of  the  land  or  the  king's  prerogative,  should  still  be 
used  and  executed.  No  such  revision  has  been  made.  Cleri- 
cal canons,  made  since  that  time,  have  no  authority  as  to  the 
laity,  unless  confirmed  by  act  of  parliament.  (Blackstone's 
Commentaries,  vol.  i.  p.  74.) 

The  provisions  of  the  canon  law  gradually  extended  the 
power  of  the  prelates  over  the  personal  estate  of  all  persons, 
on  the  event  of  death.  This  property  was  taken  possession  of 
by  them,  to  be  disposed  of  in  releasing  the  soul  from  purga- 
tory, and  in  doing  such  charitable  acts  as  the  deceased  ought 
to  have  done  in  his  life-time.  The  execution  of  wills,  for  like 
reasons,  was  assumed  by  the  churchmen.  It  was  their  busi- 
ness, also,  to  take  cognizance  of  the  rights  and  duties  of  hus- 
bands and  wives,  because  any  violations  of  these  were  sins. 
Out  of  these  original  usurpations  arose  the  several  ecclesias- 
tical courts  now  known  in  London  at  Doctors'  Commons. 
Under  the  prerogatives  of  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  (by 
his  surrogates  or  deputies  holding  courts  of  different  names,) 
wills  are  proved,  letters  of  administration  granted,  estates  set- 
tled, and  divorces  decreed.  These  proceedings  are  now  regu- 
lated by  statutes,  and  are  part  of  the  settled  law,  though 
they  originated  in  papal  arrogance. 

Benefit  of  clergy.  At  an*  early  period  of  the  Christian 
church,  certain  places  were  deemed  holy,  and  no  person  could 
be  arrested  in  such  places  by  any  temporal  authority,  for  any 
crime.  Hence  arose  flying  to  the  sanctuary.  About  the 
same  time,  clergymen  were  held  to  be  exempted  from  liability 
to  answer  in  any  temporal  court,  for  any  crime,  however 
heinous.  As  ability  to  read  was  evidence  of  being  a  clergy- 
man, the  exemption  (under  clerical  management)  was  extended 
to  all  who  had  that  ability.  A  convicted  felon  could  save  him- 
self from  punishment  by  falling  on  his  knees  before  his  tem- 
poral judge,  and  praying  the  benefit  of  clergy,  by  showing  he 
could  read.  This  subject  has  held  its  place  in  the  law,  at  least 
from  the  year  1352  (25  of  Edward  III.)  to  1779,  (19  of  George 


ROMAN    CHURCH.  425 

III.,)  within  which  time  many  statutes  were  passed,  gradually- 
limiting  the  clerical  exemption.  Since  the  latter  period  it  is 
usual,  both  in  England  and  the  United  States,  to  provide  in 
statutes  that  certain  crimes  shall  be  punished,  and  that  the 
benefit  of  clergy  shall  not  be  pleaded  as  exemption.  This 
plea  is  now  rarely  made.  That  it  ever  could  have  been 
made,  implies  that  the  ignorant,  who  might  not  have  been  able 
to  distinguish  between  right  and  wrong,  must  be  punished ; 
while  the  well-informed,  were  exempt,  for  the  reason  that  they 
were  capable  of  making  the  distinction.  (See  vol.  iv.  Black- 
stone's  Com.  chap.  28.) 

From  the  time  that  Rome,  in  common  with  other  cities, 
was  freed  from  the  dominion  of  the  German  emperors,  up  to 
the  time  of  Innocent  III.,  that  city  had  been  in  a  state  of 
insubordination  and  anarchy.  The  character  of  the  Romans 
is  drawn  in  these  words  by  one  who  held  the  rank  of  ambas- 
sador: — "They  are  men  too  proud  to  obey,  too  ignorant  to 
rule  ;  faithless  to  superiors,  insupportable  to  inferiors ;  shame- 
less in  asking,  insolent  in  refusing ;  importunate  in  obtaining 
favors,  ungrateful  when  they  have  obtained  them ;  most  profuse 
in  promise,  most  niggardly  in  performance;  the  smoothest 
flatterers,  and  the  most  venomous*  detractors."  Of  such  a 
people  it  would  be  of  little  utility  to  give  an  account.  The 
political  sovereignty  of  the  pope,  acquired  by  Innocent,  had 
little  tendency  to  change  these  characteristics  of  the  Romans 
for  the  better.  This  able  pontiff  secured,  also,  the  temporal 
authority  over  the  territories  which  have  ever  since  been 
known  as  the  states  of  the  church.  The  history  of  Rome,  for 
centuries,  was  little  else  than  the  history  of  the  merciless  wars 
carried  on  between  noble  families.  The  most  distinguished 
among  them  were  those  of  Colonna  and  Ursini.  These  fami- 
lies veiled  their  natural  hereditary  enmity  under  the  names  of 
Guelfs  and  Ghibelines.     (See  Gibbon,  chap,  lxix.) 


CHAPTER  LIX. 

MEASURES    OF    THE    POPES    TO    SUBJECT    ALL  TEMPORAL 
AUTHORITY    TO    THEMSELVES. 

The  declaration  of  papal  supremacy  by  Gregory  VII.,  has 
been  already  stated.     From  the  time  of  that  pontiff  ( 1073 — 
36* 


426  ROMAN    CHURCH. 

1085)  to  that  of  Innocent  III.,  (1198—1216,)  the  papal  power 
had  been  gaining  strength.  Innocent  felt  himself  strong 
enough  to  declare,  in  one  of  his  epistles, — "  The  successor 
of  St.  Peter  was  intended  by  God,  not  only  to  govern  the 
church,  but  the  whole  world."  On  another  occasion,  he  said, 
:'  As  God  has  placed  two  great  luminaries  in  the  firmament, 
the  one  to  rule  the  day,  the  other  the  night,  so  he  has  estab- 
lished two  great  powers,  the  pontifical  and  the  royal ;  and  as 
the  moon  receives  its  light  from  the  sun,  so  the  royal  authority 
borrows  its  splendor  and  authority  from  that  of  the  pontifical." 

Innocent  was  of  noble  birth,  and  highly  educated  for  that 
time.  He  became  pope  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven.  He  had 
the  will  and  the  ability  to  carry  the  theory,  expressed  in  the 
words  above  ascribed  to  him,  into  full  effect.  He  induced  the 
inhabitants  of  Rome  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  him,  the 
civil  government  of  Rome  not  having  before  been  connected 
with  that  of  the  church. 

The  reign  of  Innocent  was  distinguished  by  many  acts 
designed  to  increase  the  pontifical  authority  in  the  church,  as 
well  as  to  extend  that  authority  over  temporal  sovereigns.  In 
the  year  1215  he  held  a  council  at  Rome,  one  of  the  most 
numerous  and  dignified  eyer  assembled.  In  this  council  the 
doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  or  the  actual  presence  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ  at  the  eucharist,  was  recognized  as 
a  fundamental  principle ;  and  Innocent  is  considered  as  the 
inventor  of  that  term,  or  as  having  adopted,  and  as  giving  it  a 
place  in  church  doctrines.3*  At  the  same  council  the  sacra- 
mental confession  was  established,  by  which  the  system  of 
auricular  confession,  still  observed,  was  also  made  fundamental 
in  the  church.  A  searching  and  powerful  influence  was 
thereby  given  to  all  grades  of  clergy  over  the  most  secret  acts 
and  thoughts  of  all  professors  of  Christianity.  This  confes- 
sion was  enjoined  periodically,  and  was  liable  to  be  followed 
by  bodily  penance,  and  this  might  secure  absolution.  Neither 
of  these  subjects  were  then  new  in  the  church,  but  they  were 
enforced  and  established,  conclusively,  by  this  council. 

*  In  831,  Radbert,  a  monk,  maintained  that  after  the  consecration  of 
the  bread  and  wine,  nothing  remains  of  those  symbols  except  the  outward 
figure,  under  which  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  were  really  and  locally 
present.  Secondly,  that  the  body  of  Christ  thus  present,  is  the  same 
body  which  was  born  of  the  virgin,  which  suffered  on  the  cross,  and  was 
raised  from  the  dead.  (Waddington's  History  of  the  Church,  p.  220.) 
It  was  not  until  the  council  held  by  Innocent  III.,  in  1215,  that  the  doc- 
trine of  the  actual  presence  was  established,  and  the  name  (as  Wadding- 
ton  says,  p.  285)  of  transubstanliation  given  to  it  by  Innocent. 


ROMAN    CHURCH.  427 

The  great  achievement  of  Innocent  was  the  attempt  to 
extirpate  heresy.  Several  sects  had  appeared  who  maintained 
doctrines  variant  from  the  Roman  church.  Some  of  these 
sects  were  hostile,  as  they  condemned  the  profligacy  and  cor- 
ruption of  prelates,  and  the  usurpation  and  tyranny  which 
Innocent  approved  and  promoted.  The  origin  and  theories  of 
these  sects  cannot  be  here  stated,  as  a  much  more  extensive 
space  would  be  required  than  can  be  thereto  given;  and,  for 
the  further  reason,  that  these  topics  belong  rather  to  church 
history.  There  are  many  readers  who  feel  a  lively  interest  in 
the  origin  and  history  of  the  religious  sects  which  the  Roman 
church  regarded  as  heretical.  Such  readers  may  find  some 
gratification  in  the  perusal  of  Gibbon's  54th  chapter  of  Decline 
and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  There  is  a  learned  inquiry 
into  the  history  of  these  sects,  in  the  text  and  in  the  notes  of 
Hallam's  History  of  the  Middle  Ages,  vol.  ii.  p.  314,  &c,  or 
chapter  ix.  part  II. 

The  names  of  these  sects  were,  1.  The  Petrobrussians,  who 
appeared  in  Provence  and  Languedoc,  in  the  south  of  France. 
2.  The  Henricians,  who  were  known  from  Lausanne  in  Swit- 
zerland, westwardly  to  Bordeaux.  3.  The  Cathari  and  Pau- 
licians,  supposed  to  have  originated  in  the  east,  and  who  spread 
over  the  west  of  Europe.  4.  The  Vaudois,  a  sect  supposed 
to  have  originated  in  Lyons.  5.  The  Albigenses,  so  named 
from  the  city  of  Albi,  in  Languedoc.  6.  The  Waldenses, 
known  at  Lyons  and  in  Switzerland.  It  was  against  the  Albi- 
genses, especially,  that  Innocent  devoted  the  full  force  of  the 
pontifical  authority.  In  the  sketches  of  France,  this  persecu- 
tion has  been  mentioned.  The  Albigenses  attracted  the  notice 
of  Innocent  because  they  were  protected  by  the  earl  of  Tou- 
louse, Raymond  V I.  In  1198  two  papal  legates  were  sent 
among  these  heretics.  Several  others  were  afterwards  sent, 
the  most  prominent  a  Spaniard,  named  Dominic.  These  mis- 
sionaries acquired  the  name  of  inquisitors,  as  they  diligently 
inquired  into  the  acts  and  opinions  of  those  whom  they  sus- 
pected to  be  heretics.  From  this  humble  beginning  arose 
that  tremendous  power  of  the  church  which  has  since  been 
known  as  the  Inquisition.  Hitherto,  the  church  had  no  phys- 
ical force  by  wThich  to  execute  its  decrees.  Excommunication 
was  addressed  to  the  mind,  subdued  and  enslaved  by  terror  of 
papal  denunciation.  The  sovereigns  of  Europe  would  have 
disregarded  this  denunciation,  but  they  could  not  prevent  its 
effect  on  their  subjects.  When  an  excommunication  was  dis- 
regarded, the  popes  could  go  no  further,  unless  they  could 


428  ROMAN    CHURCH. 

avail  themselves  of  military  power,  or  the  strength  of  the  civil 
authority.  To  that  power  they  could  resort  by  appealing  to 
the  cupidity  or  ambition  of  friendly  sovereigns,  as  in  the  case 
of  Philip 'Augustus,  and  John,  of  England.  Innocent  discov- 
ered the  means  of  availing  himself  of  the  civil  authority. 
The  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  were  the  two  monkish  or- 
ders whom  Innocent  employed.  One  priest  and  three  laymen 
formed  an  inquisitorial  council,  but  the  power  of  judging  of 
the  crimes  alleged,  and  of  punishing  them,  was  not  arrogated 
by  this  council.  This  system  of  inconceivable  horror  and 
abomination  was  thus  begun  by  Innocent,  but  was  not  perfected 
until  the  time  of  the  next  pope,  but  one,  to  him,  who  was  Greg- 
ory IX.,  who  reigned  from  1227  to  1241. 

The  papal  will  to  subject  all  who  differed  from  the  church, 
or  who  were  suspected  of  doing  so,  or  who,  in  any  way,  declin- 
ed abject  submission,  had  been  sufficiently  manifested.  The 
power  to  punish  was  yet  to  be  acquired.  Gregory  found  means 
to  erect  tribunals  composed  exclusively  of  Dominicans.  At 
first,  the  civil  authority  was  necessary  to  punish,  when  the 
judgment  had  been  pronounced.  But  a  power  which  could 
make  such  progress,  could  soon  acquire  the  authority  of  per- 
fecting the  system,  and  assert  the  right  and  duty  to  dispose  of 
person  and  of  life. 

It  should  be  remarked  that  the  original  purpose  of  Gregory 
VII.,  sustained  by  Innocent  III.,  was  to  create  a  power  depend- 
ent exclusively  on  the  'popes,  competent  to  control  the  regular 
clergy,  no  less  than  the  laity.  This  power  was  found  in  the 
monks,  who  were  equally  independent  of  the  laity  and  clergy, 
and  who  were  the  instruments  through  which  the  papal  au- 
thority was  directly  exercised.  It  is  astonishing  that  in  any 
age  of  the  world  a  tribunal  was  permitted  to  arise  and  to  flour- 
ish, dignified  with  the  name  of  the  holy  inquisition,  or  holy  of- 
fice, which  could  arraign  any  person,  and  subject  him  to  ago- 
nizing torture,  and  wring  from  his  own  lips  whatsoever  confes- 
sion was  wanted  to  deprive  him  of  fortune  and  honor,  and  send 
him  to  cruel  execution.  It  is  obvious  that  such  a  power  would 
minister  to  the  worst  of  corrupt  cravings.  It  was  used  not 
only  to  punish  those  whom  the  Inquisitors  thought  proper  to 
consider  as  really  heretical,  according  to  an  honest  meaning  of 
that  term,  but  to  annihilate  enemies,  and  acquire  riches.  A 
necessary  consequence  of  heretical  condemnation  involved  the 
forfeiture  of  all  wordly  possessions.  The  Mahommedans  of 
Spain,  and  the  Jews,  every  where,  were  the  victims  of  this  in- 
fernal tribunal.     It  obtained  only  a  short-lived  reign  in  France. 


ROMAN    CHURCH.  429 

It  was  closely  watched  in  Venice.  It  was  terrible  in  some 
parts  of  Spain.  It  was  computed  that  there  were  20,000  of- 
ficers of  the  inquisition  in  that  country,  who  were  called  famil- 
iars, and  who  served  as  spies  and  informers.  This  tribunal 
was  not  established  in  Germany,  the  Netherlands,  or  Naples, 
or  the  British  isles.  Its  triumphant  dominion  belongs  to  a  later 
age  than  that  now  under  consideration. 

Parties,  whether  in  politics  or  religion,  if  strong  enough  to 
control  opponents,  cannot  be  stationary  ;  they  must  follow  the 
analogy  of  nature,  and  tend  to  a  conclusion.  The  church  was 
preparing  for  the  end  of  its  own  tyrannical  dominion,  when  it 
asserted  and  maintained,  that  "  the  quality  of  Roman  Catholic 
had  wholly  superseded  that  of  man,  and  even  of  Christian ; 
he  who  is  not  a  Roman  Catholic  may  be  justly  deprived  of 
life,  and  it  is  a  good  action  to  kill  him.11  ( Villers'  prize  Es- 
say on  the  Reformation.)  This  was  the  principle  on  which  the 
popes  of  Rome  granted  heathen  countries,  and  consigned  their 
inhabitants  to  death,  by  the  Christian's  sword. 

In  the  236  years  of  Pontifical  grandeur,  (1073  to  1303)  sev- 
eral other  powers  were  assumed  by  the  popes,  which  may  be 
comprised  under  the  head  of  dispensing,  enabling,  and  com- 
pulsory. They  could  absolve  a  sovereign  from  his  oath.  In 
the  controversies  which  arose  between  sovereigns  and  their 
subjects,  (as  in  England,)  the  sovereign  was  sometimes  bound 
to  observe  his  engagements  under  that  solemnity.  Treaties 
were  sometimes  formed,  the  observance  of  which  was  disad- 
vantageous, or  inconvenient.  In  such  cases,  the  popes  assumed 
to  discharge  the  party  from  his  obligations.  If  the  wife  of  a 
sovereign  was  an  obstacle  to  his  interest  or  wishes,  the  popes 
assumed  to  dissolve  the  marriage  contract.  If  there  were  ob- 
stacles to  a  desired  marriage,  from  consanguinity,  or  any  other 
cause,  the  popes  would  remove  that  obstacle.  If  the  fact  of  il- 
legitimacy was  a  disqualification  to  inheritance,  the  popes  could 
remove  the  disability.  If  a  sovereign  married  a  person  whom 
a  pope  thought  to  be  too  nearly,  connected  by  relationship,  he 
could  dissolve  the  marriage  and  force  the  parties  to  separate. 
If  a  wife  was  repudiated  by  a  sovereign,  the  pope  could  com- 
pel him  to  take  her  back  again.  In  a  word,  these  pontiffs  as- 
sumed an  absolute  dominion  over  right  and  justice,  in  any  and 
every  case,  substituting  their  own  will  therefor,  and  raising 
themselves  above  any  earthly  accountability. 

Gregory  IX.  was  pope  in  1241,  and  the  two  following  years  ; 
and  contemporary  of  Frederick  II.  Papal  magnificence,  at 
this  time,  is  described  by  Waddington,  p.  335 — 6.     "  On  the 


ROMAN    CHURCH. 

day  of  his  coronation,  he  was  covered  with  gold  and  jewels. 
Having  said  mass  at  St.  Peter's,  he  returned  wearing  two 
crowns,  mounted  on  a  horse  richly  caparisoned,  surrounded  by 
cardinals  clothed  in  purple.  The  streets  were  spread  with  ta- 
pestry, inlaid  with  gold  and  silver.  The  prefect  and  senators 
of  Rome,  were  on  foot,  holding  his  bridle."  Gregory  excom- 
municated Frederick  II.  twice,  for  not  departing  on  a  crusade 
to  the  holy  land.  Frederick  wrote  several  letters  on  the  papal 
tyranny,  and  the  perversion  of  the  church.  Waddington  has 
some  extracts  from  one  to  Henry  III.,  of  England,  and  among 
them  these  : — "  The  Roman  church  so  burns  with  avarice,  that, 
as  the  ecclesiastical  revenues  do  not  content  it,  it  is  not  ashamed 
to  despoil  sovereign  princes,  and  make  them  tributary.  You 
have  a  very  touching  example  in  your  father,  king  John ;  you 
have  that  also  of  the  count  of  Toulouse,  and  so  many  other 
princes,  whose  kingdoms  it  holds  under  interdict,  until  it  has 
reduced  them  to  similar  servitude.  I  speak  not  of  the  simonies, 
the  unheard  of  exactions,  which  it  exercises  over  the  clergy ; 
the  manifest  or  cloaked  usuries,  with  which  it  infects  the  whole 
world.  In  the  mean  time,  these  insatiable  leeches  use  honeyed 
discourses,  saying,  that  the  court  of  Rome  is  the  church,  our 
mother  and  nurse,  while  it  is  our  step-mother,  in  the  source  of 
every  evil.  It  sends,  on  every  side,  legates,  with  power  lo  sus- 
pend, to  punish,  to  excommunicate ;  not  to  diffuse  the  word  of 
God,  but  to  amass  money,  and  reap  that  which  they  have  not 
sown.  And  so  they  pillage  churches,  monasteries,  and  other 
places  of  religion,  which  our  fathers  have  founded  for  the  sup- 
port of  pilgrims  and  the  poor." 

Though  Frederick  had  abundant  reason  to  speak  vindictive- 
ly, it  is  improbable  that  he  did,  or  could  exaggerate,  on  the 
topics  of  papal  arrogance,  avarice,  or  despotism.  It  is  very 
obvious  that  cravings  are  the  same  in  every  age,  means  little 
variant,  and  success  much  the  same,  whether  the  cloak  be  re- 
ligion, liberty,  or  politics — or  the  agents  are  princes,  priests, 
or  people. 

The  power  of  the  pontiffs  could  not  be  greater  than  it  has 
already  been  shown  to  have  been.  But  in  the  time  of  Boniface 
VIII.  pretensions  to  still  higer  power  were  made.  He  was  in 
the  papal  chair  from  1294  to  1303.  This  person  was  a  native 
of  the  town  of  Agnani,  forty  miles  south-east  of  Rome.  He 
had  attained  to  the  age  of  77  when  elected.  The  two  last  cen- 
turies had  materially  changed  the  intelligence  and  the  opinions 
of  Europeans.  The  dread  of  papal  power  had  diminished,  in 
some  degree.     Whether  Boniface  was  ignorant  of  this,  or, 


ROMAN    CHURCH.  431 

knowing  it,  was  more  solicitous  to  counteract  the  tendency  to 
insubordination,  may  be  doubtful.  Whatever  the  fact  may  have 
been,  no  pontiff,  not  even  Innocent  or  Gregory,  pretended  to 
such  absolute  dominion.  He  applied  a  force  to  the  papal  ma- 
chinery which  it  was  not  strong  enough  to  sustain  :  though 
essentially  impaired,  it  was  not  ruined  ;  while  Boniface  him- 
self perished  in  the  effort. 

It  is  uncertain  whether  Gregory  IX.,  or  whether  Boniface 
VIII.  added  a  second  crown  to  that  which  the  popes  had  as- 
sumed. In  1298  Albert  of  Austria,  asked  of  Boniface  confirm- 
ation of  his  election  as  emperor.  He  was  answered, — "  It  is 
I  who  am  Caesar.  It  is  I  who  am  emperor.  It  is  I  who  will 
defend  the  rights  of  the  empire!  "  He  placed,  it  is  said,  the 
imperial  crown  on  his  own  head,  and  thence  the  popes  assum- 
ed a  double  crown.  Urban  V.  (pope  from  13G2  to  1370)  add- 
ed the  third  crown,  whence  the  triple  crown  of  the  pontiffs. 
Boniface  interposed  in  all  the  intentions  of  the  kings  and 
princes  of  Europe.  He  said  to  Philip,  king  of  France,  "  God 
has  set  me  over  the  nations,  and  over  the  kingdoms,  to  root  out, 
and  to  pull  down  ;  and  to  destroy  and  to  throw  down  ;  to  build 
and  to  plant  in  his  name,  and  by  his  doctrine.  Let  no  one  per- 
suade you  that  you  have  no  superior,  or  that  you  are  not  sub- 
ject to  the  chief  of  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy."  The  princi- 
pal event  in  the  life  of  this  pontiff  was  his  warfare  with  this 
king  of  France.  The  French  clergy  had  maintained  some 
degree  of  independence  as  to  the  popes,  in  virtue  of  the  prag- 
matic sanction  of  St.  Louis,  (or  Louis  IX.,)  which  had  estab- 
lished "the  liberties  of  the  Gallician  church,"  in  the  year  1269. 
Philip  had  imposed  a  tax  on  the  clergy.  Boniface  issued  a 
bull,  in  which  he  pronounced  excommunication  on  all  who 
should  tax  the  clergy,  whether  kings,  princes  or  magistrates, 
and  on  all  who  should  pay  taxes  by  them  imposed.  Philip  in- 
terdicted the  export  of  money,  jewels,  and  other  valuables  from 
his  kingdom,  whereby  the  pope's  revenues  were  much  dimin- 
ished. These  measures  did  not  produce  an  avowed  warfare. 
In  1301,  Philip  arrested  and  imprisoned  a  bishop.  Boniface 
commanded  Philip  to  release  him,  and  Philip  refusing  to  do 
this,  Boniface  published  a  bull  of  excommunication,  and  re- 
quired all  the  clergy  of  France  to  attend  him  at  Rome. 
Philip  publicly  burnt  the  bull,  and  prohibited  the  clergy  from 
going  to  Rome.  This  was  followed  by  the  celebrated  bull  known 
under  the  name  of  unam  sanctam,  wherein  it  is  asserted,  "that 
there  is  one  head  of  the  church,  Christ;  Christ's  vicar,  St. 
Peter,  and  the  successor  of  St.  Peter.     That  in  the  power  of 


432  ROMAN    CHURCH. 

this  chief  are  two  swords,  the  one  spiritual,  the  other  material ; 
that  the  former  of  these  is  to  be  used  by  the  church,  the  latter 
for  the  church :  the  former  is  in  the  hand  of  the  priest,  the 
latter  in  the  hand  of  kings  and  soldiers,  but  at  the  nod  and 
sufferance  of  the  priest."  Philip,  in  answer  to  this  declaration, 
ordered  an  assembly  of  all  the  clergy  in  his  dominions,  intend- 
ing to  denounce  the  pope,  and  declare  his  own  independence. 
But,  apprehensive  that  the  clergy  might  not  accord  with  him, 
he  meanwhile  adopted  another  course,  which,  considering  the 
state  of  public  opinion  at  that  time,  was  more  audacious  than 
any  thing  done  by  the  pope. 

William  of  Nogaret,  a  celebrated  French  civilian,  with 
certain  members  of  the  noble  family  of  Colonna,  who  had  fled 
to  Paris  from  the  persecution  of  Boniface,  assembled  three 
hundred  horsemen,  and  a  military  force  on  foot,  went  to  Italy, 
and  presented  themselves  at  Agnani,  where  Boniface  was  then 
residing.  They  broke  into  his  palace  with  the  cry  of  "Success 
to  the  king  of  France;  death  to  Boniface."  The  pope's  at- 
tendants fled.  He  dressed  himself  in  his  pontifical  robes, 
placed  the  crown  of  Constantine  on  his  head,  grasped  the  keys 
and  the  cross,  and  seated  himself  in  the  papal  chair.  One  of 
the  Colonnas  came  first  into  his  presence;  Nogaret  came  next. 
"  William  of  Nogaret ! "  said  the  pope,  "  descended  from  a  race 
of  heretics;  it  is  from  thee,  and  such  as  thee,  that  I  can  patient- 
ly endure  injuries."  The  followers  of  Colonna  and  Nogaret 
had  dispersed  themselves  through  the  palace,  to  gather  plunder. 
No  personal  violence,  whatever  the  original  design  may  have 
been,  appears  to  have  been  attempted;  and  no  object  appears 
to  have  been  gained,  but  that  of  having  insulted  and  braved 
the  pontifical  majesty.  The  people  of  Agnani  having  recover- 
ed from  their  panic,  assembled  in  arms,  attacked  the  invaders, 
and  massacred  some  of  them,  and  put  the  remainder  to  flight. 
This  outrage  first  broke  the  spirit  of  Boniface,  and  then  the 
violence  of  his  passion  is  said  to  have  deprived  him  of  reason. 
He  hurried  to  Rome,  and  is  represented  to  have  refused  nour- 
ishment, and  to  have  been  incapable  of  repose — gnashing  his 
teeth  in  silence,  his  mouth  white  with  foam.  He  excluded  all 
attendants,  and  shut  himself  up;  and  when  his  servants  forced 
an  opening  to  his  room,  he  was  dead,  with  such  marks  of 
violence  as  led  to  the  supposition  of  having  anticipated  the 
natural  termination  of  life.     (October  10th,  1303.) 

Though  the  reign  of  Boniface  was  short,  it  was  an  eventful 
one.  Among  other  institutions,  he  founded  the  Jubilee,  in 
1299;  borrowed,  perhaps,  from  the  Jewish  institution  of  the 


ROMAN    CHURCH.  433 

same  name,  but  for  very  different  purposes.  Plenary  indul- 
gence was  granted  to  all  who  should  appear  at  Rome,  confess 
their  sins,  partake  of  the  sacrament,  and  visit  certain  churches. 
This  was  a  contrivance  to  enrich  the  church  treasury,  and 
was  so  successful,  that  the  jubilee  was  changed  by  successive 
popes  from  fifty  to  thirty-three  years,  and  then  to  twenty-five. 
Churches  were  appointed  in  different  parts  of  Christendom, 
where  the  benefits  of  the  jubilee  could  be  obtained  by  those 
who  could  not  appear  at  Rome.  In  this,  as  in  many  other 
cases  in  the  Roman  church,  there  is  a  strong  resemblance  to 
the  pagan  institutions  of  the  East,  (especially,  as  will  be  shown, 
in  India,)  where  periodical  assemblies,  feasts,  gifts,  and  sacra- 
fices,  enrich  a  craving,  idle  priesthood.  It  is  affirmed  that 
from  Christmas  to  Easter,  not  less  than  1,200,000  persons 
visited  Rome ;  and  these  were  replaced  by  others,  causing  a 
prodigious  gain  to  the  church,  and  to  the  citizens  of  Rome. 
An  Italian  historian,  (Matt.  Villani,)  says,  "the  streets  were 
perpetually  full,  so  that  every  one  was  obliged,  on  foot,  or  on 
horseback,  to  go  with  the  crowd,"  (in  making  the  circuit  to  the 
three  appointed  churches.)  It  is  said  that  the  holy  napkin  of 
Christ  was  shown  at  St.  Peter's  every  Sunday,  and  on  festival 
days.  So  great  was  the  press,  that  many  persons  were  found 
crushed  or  trampled  to  death. 

Historians  consider  the  grandeur  of  the  Roman  church  to 
have  declined  from  the  time  of  Boniface.  Habits  and  preju- 
dices had  so  associated  themselves  with  hopes  and  fears,  and 
with  clerical  authority,  that  the  decline  was  very  gradual ;  and 
it  required  yet  two  full  centuries  to  prepare  even  a  part  of  the 
people  of  Europe  for  that  great  event  known  under  the  name 
of  the  Reformation. 

Benedict  XI.  succeeded  Boniface,  but  reigned  less  than  nine 
months.  The  same  Philip  the  Fair,  king  of  France,  is  more 
than  suspected  of  having  caused  the  death  of  Benedict  by 
poison.  His  motive  is  explained  by  the  fact,  that  by  means  of 
well-concerted  intrigues,  he  procured  the  election  of  a  creature 
of  his  own,  the  archbishop  of  Bordeaux,  and  transferred  the 
papal  throne  from  Rome  to  Avignon,  in  his  own  kingdom. 
Clement  V.  thus  elected,  in  fact  by  Philip,  was  the  first  in  the 
succession  of  bishops  who  reigned  at  Avignon  seventy-three 
years.  It  was  during  this  period,  and  about  1347,  that  the 
celebrated  Cola  di  Rienza  appeared  at  Rome,  and  enjoyed 
there,  for  a  time,  a  singular  popularity,  by  which  he  raised 
himself  to  a  supremacy  approaching  that  of  royalty.  It  was, 
37 


434  POPES    IN    FRANCE. 

however,  a  short-lived  grandeur,  as  his  qualities  were  not 
adapted  to  preserve  an  ascendency  over  so  turbulent  and  so 
lawless  a  population  as  that  of  Rome.  He  was  put  to  death 
by  the  same  people  who  had  made  him  a  sovereign.* 


CHAPTER   LX. 

Popes  in  France — Great  schism — Council  of  Constance. 

The  character  and  conduct  of  the  popes  who  held  the  pon- 
tifical throne  at  Avignon,  from  1305  to  1378,  were  odious  and 
profligate  beyond  any  example  which  had  occurred  during 
four  centuries.  Not  only  did  these  popes  and  the  members  of 
their  court  pervert  all  the  canons  of  the  church  to  acquire 
riches,  but  they  expended  their  acquisitions  in  such  vices  as 
gave  Avignon  the  reputation  of  another  Babylon.  The  papal 
pretensions  were  much  impaired  by  the  mere  circumstance  of 
the  place  of  residence.  Rome,  from  long-continued  associa- 
tions, was  the  proper  seat  of  ecclesiastical  empire.  The  popes 
had  no  temporal  superior  in  that  city.  At  Avignon,  all  the 
Christian  nations  of  Europe  considered  them  to  be  under  the 
control  of  the  kings  of  France.  These  facts,  together  with 
the  better  information  which  was  gradually  arising  in  Europe, 
had  a  strong  tendency  to  impair  the  papal  authority. 

Many  attempts  were  made,  under  various  impulses,  to  in- 
duce the  popes  to  return  to  Rome.  This  object  was  effected 
in  the  time  of  Gregory  XI.,  who  took  up  his  residence  in  that 
city,  and  died  there  in  1378.  It  was  an  established  rule,  that 
the  successor  of  a  pope  must  be  elected  at  the  place  where  that 
pope  had  deceased.  The  people  of  Rome,  who  had  felt  the 
various  evils  and  privations  which  the  long  absence  of  the 
popes  had  occasioned,  demanded,  with  violent  threats,  the 
election  of  a  Roman,  or  at  least  of  an  Italian.  Seventeen  of 
twenty-four  cardinals  were  there  present,  and  of  these  seven- 
teen, twelve  were  Frenchmen.  The  assembly  of  a  riotous 
and  clamorous  body  around  the  place  of  election,  computed  at 
thirty  thousand,  and  the  piling  up  of  combustibles  around  the 
palace,  had  the  effect  intended,  at  the  end  of  eleven  days.  An 
Italian   was  elected,  who  took  the  title  of  Urban  VI.     His 

*  The  story  of  this  remarkable  man  has  been  written  in  the  spirit  of 
romance,  by  Bulwer. 


COUNCIL    OF    CONSTANCE.  435 

name  was  Bartolemeo  Prignano,  then  archbishop  of  Bari. 
In  a  few  weeks  the  discontented  in  the  conclave  of  cardinals 
withdrew  from  Rome,  and  assuming  that  the  election  of  Urban 
had  been  compulsory,  they  elected  a  Frenchman,  who  took 
the  name  of  Clement  VII.,  and  who  established  himself  at 
Avignon.  This  person  was  then  called  Robert,  the  cardinal 
of  Geneva;  the  place  of  election  was  Fondi,  in  the  kingdom 
of  Naples,  sixty  miles  south-east  of  Rome.  Hence  arose  "the 
Great  Schism"  of  the  church,  which  continued  from  1378  to 
1417,  during  which  time  there  were  two  popes,  and  a  part  of 
the  time,  three.  All  attempts  to  induce  one  or  both  of  the  oppo- 
nent pontiffs  to  resign,  were  unavailing.  To  remove  the 
scandal,  a  numerous  council  of  prelates  assembled  at  Pisa  in 
1409,  and  elected  Alexander  V.  for  the  purpose  of  superseding 
both  the  others.  Instead  of  effecting  this  object,  this  proceed- 
ing only  placed  a  third  person  in  the  papal  dignity.  Such 
conflicts  among  men  of  the  church  could  not  fail  to  bring 
odium  on  the  whole  body  of  prelates,  and  especially  to  impair 
the  respect  and  confidence  which  laymen  had  entertained  for 
the  offices,  if  not  for  the  persons,  of  ecclesiastics.  The  denun- 
ciations of  popes,  formerly  so  terrible,  were  now  principally- 
interchanged  between  the  pnpps  themselves.  The  churcn 
itself,  and  all  its  associations,  were  falling. into  contempt,  and 
the  only  remedy  seemed  to  be  an  authoritative  council,  in 
which  all  the  Christian  nations  of  Europe  should  be  represent- 
ed, as  well  by  laymen,  as  by  clergymen. 

Hence  arose  the  Council  of  Constance,  held  at  the  city  of 
that  name,  on  the  lake  of  Constance,  in  Switzerland.  The 
first  session  was  in  November,  1414.  At  this  time  there  had 
been  elections  in  continuation  of  the  line  of  popes  elected  at 
Rome,  and  at  Fondi  in  1378,  and  at  Pisa  in  1409.  Under  the 
election  at  Rome,  Gregory  XII.,  under  that  at  Fondi,  Bene- 
dict XIII.,  under  that  at  Pisa,  John  XXIII.,  were  respectively 
successors.  Gregory  had  retired  to  Rimini,  a  city  on  the 
coast  of  the  Adriatic,  directly  north  of  Rome.  Benedict  had 
retired  to  Perpignan,  one  hundred  miles  south-east  of  Bor- 
deaux, on  the  borders  of  France  and  Spain.  John  attended 
the  council  at  Constance.  The  English,  the  Germans,  the 
French  and  the  Italians,  were  represented  in  this  council  as 
distinct  nations.  After  Benedict  had  been  disposed  of,  the 
Spaniards  (who  had  supported  him)  came  in  as  the  fifth 
nation.  The  concourse  of  persons  was  very  great,  as  multi- 
tudes attended  from  all  parts  of  Europe,  who  were  not  mem- 
bers of  the  council.     Of  prelates,  twenty-nine  cardinals,  three 


436  COUNCIL    OF    CONSTANCE. 

hundred  bishops  and  archbishops,  and  a  corresponding  pro- 
portion of  inferior  clergy  were  present,  besides  the  laymen, 
princes,  and  learned  civilians,  and  at  the  head  of  all  appeared 
Sigismund,  emperor  of  Germany,  who,  in  right  of  rank  and 
talents,  was  the  presiding  officer.  The  first  session  began 
November  1st,  1414.  The  principal  objects  were  to  heal  the 
schism,  to  reform  the  discipline,  regulate  the  lives  of  the 
clergy,  and  to  ascertain  and  establish  the  powers,  rights,  and 
duties  of  the  papal  crown. 

John  proposed  that  he  should  be  acknowledged  as  the  lawful 
head  of  the  church,  by  the  deposing  of  his  official  adversaries; 
and  insisted  that  this  measure  necessarily  took  precedence  of 
all  others.  The  council  were  of  opinion  that  their  power  ex- 
tended to  all  three  of  the  popes,  and,  after  a  long  and  animated 
discussion,  John  was  deposed,  as  well  as  the  other  two.  He 
fled,  was  pursued,  was  taken  and  imprisoned,  and  kept  in 
confinement  three  years  in  Germany.  Gregory  consented  to 
resign  ;  but  Benedict,  though  visited  personally  by  the  king  of 
Arragon,  and  by  Sigismund,  obstinately  retained  his  preten- 
sions, and  died  pope,  enjoining  on  his  only  two  cardinals  who 
remained  faithful  to  him,  to  choose  a  successor. 

The  three  incumbents  having  been  displaced,  the  council 
engaged  in  the  business  of  reform,  intending  to  establish  rules 
on  all  controverted  points,  and,  especially,  for  the  future  govern- 
ment of  the  popes.  The  cardinals  and  prelates  had  address 
enough  to  persuade  the  members  of  the  council,  though  against 
the  judgment  of  the  eminent  laymen,  and  of  Sigismund,  among 
others,  that  a  pope  ought  first  to  be  chosen.  A  body  of  electors 
was  agreed  on,  consisting  of  the  sacred  college,  and  deputies 
from  each  nation,  so  that  the  new  pope  should  have  the  appro- 
bation and  support  of  all  Europe.  The  concurrence  of  two 
thirds  of  the  electors  was  required.  On  the  8th  of  November, 
1417,  Otho  Colonna,  a  Roman,  was  chosen,  who  was  called 
"noble  and  virtuous."  The  council  had  now  been  engaged 
three  years,  and  the  variety  and  interest  of  its  discussions  may 
be  judged  of  from  the  fact,  that  the  displacing  of  the  three 
other  popes,  and  the  election  of  Colonna,  were  the  only  acts  in 
which  the  council  had  concurred,  and  which  had  any  perma- 
nent consequence. 

Colonna  took  the  name  of  Martin  V.  The  council  then 
proceeded  in  the  business  of  reform.  The  several  articles  of 
reform  are  thus  enumerated: — 1.  The  number,  quality,  and 
nation  of  the  cardinals.  2.  The  reservations  of  the  holy  see. 
3.  Annates,  (or  the  right  of  the  popes  to  one  year's  product  of 


COUNCIL    OF    CONSTANCE.  437 

estates  on  the  happening  of  vacancies  in  office.)  4.  Collations 
(appointments)  to  benefices  and  expectative  graces,  (appoint- 
ments by  anticipation  of  expected  vacancies.)  5.  What  causes 
ought  to  be  treated  in  the  court  of  Rome.  6.  Appeals  to  the 
same  court.     7.  The  offices  of  the  chancery  and  penitentiary. 

8.  Exemptions  granted  and  unions  made  during  the  schism. 

9.  Commendams,  (a  mode  of  appointment  to  office.)  10.  The 
confirmation  of  elections.  11.  Intermediates,  (revenues  of 
livings  or  estates  during  vacancies.)  12.  Alienation  of  the 
property  of  the  Roman  and  other  churches.  1 3.  In  what 
cases  a  pope  may  be  corrected  and  deposed,  and  by  what 
means.  14.  The  extirpation  of  simony,  (the  corrupt  purchase 
of  office.)  15.  Dispensations,  (that  is,  the  power  of  the  pope 
to  dispense  with  the  observance  of  the  law.)  16.  Provision 
for  the  popes  and  cardinals.  17.  Indulgences,  (or  permission 
to  commit  sins.)  18.  Tenths;  the  right  to  one-tenth  of  agri- 
cultural products.     [Waddington's  History  of  the  Church.] 

This  enumeration  implies  a  very  corrupt  state  of  the  church, 
as  it  involves,  not  the  subjects  which  the  enemies  of  the  church 
thought  proper  for  reformation,  but  those  which  the  prelates 
themselves  so  considered.  If  these  subjects  had  been  dealt 
with  by  that  assembly  as  some  of  its  members,  ana*'  especially 
the  emperor  Sigismund,  knew  to  be  proper  and  necessary,  the 
Roman  church  would,  probably,  have  been  now  the  only 
church  known  among  Christians.  Fortunately  for  the  Chris- 
tian world,  "the  noble  and  virtuous  Roman"  Martin  V., 
thought  proper  to  put  an  end  to  inquiry  and  discussion.  As- 
suming, with  his  new  dignity,  all  the  authority  which  his 
predecessors  had  arrogated,  he  labored  to  dismiss  the  council, 
without  the  accomplishment  of  any  important  reform.  On 
the  2d  of  May,  1418,  the  council  was  dismissed.  The  meas- 
ures of  the  new  pope  to  elude  reformation  excited  great  dis- 
satisfaction among  many  members  of  the  council.  A  formal 
deputation  was  sent  to  Sigismund  to  pray  his  interposition. 
He  desired  them  to  remember  how  steadily  they  had  opposed 
his  wishes  to  accomplish  the  reformation  before  a  pope  was 
elected,  and  recommended  to  them,  now  they  had  obtained 
their  pope,  to  apply  to  him  for  reform. 

Before  Martin  was  elected,  it  had  been  ordained  that  there 
should  be  a  council  once  in  every  ten  years,  for  the  regulation 
of  the  church.  This  order  was  founded  on  the  principle,  not 
unfrequently  suggested  by  sovereigns  in  Europe  while  in  con- 
flict with  the  Holy  See,  that  general  councils  had  a  controlling 
power,  even  over  the  popes  themselves.  Though  Martin  and 
37* 


438  COUNCIL    OF    CONSTANCE. 

his  successors  were  obliged  to  comply  with  this  order,  it  was 
a  delusive  compliance,  either  as  to  time  or  place,  and  none  of 
the  great  purposes  intended,  when  the  council  of  Constance 
was  convened,  were  ever  accomplished. 

Among  the  extraordinary  transactions  of  the  council  of  Con- 
stance, and  as  the  most  striking  exposition  of  the  character  of 
the  age,  the  condemnation  of  John  Huss  and  of  Jerome  of 
Prague,  should  be  mentioned.  The  queen  of  Richard  II.,  of 
England,  was  a  Bohemian  princess.  On  Richard's  death  she 
returned  to  Bohemia.  Either  by  some  one  in  her  train,  or 
some  other  hand,  the  works  of  Wickliffe,  the  English  reform- 
er, were  known  there.  John  Huss  adopted  his  opinions,  and 
a  numerous  sect  arose  in  that  country,  who  bore  the  name  of 
Hussites.  The  ascendancy  of  this  person,  and  his  opposition 
to  the  established  church,  were  so  serious,  as  to  induce  the 
council  to  command  his  personal  attendance.  He  came  under 
a  letter  of  protection  from  the  emperor  Sigismund.  He  was 
accused  of  heresy,  arraigned  and  tried  before  the  council.  He 
made  a  learned  and  eloquent  defence  of  his  opinions.  On  the 
6th  of  July,  1415,  Huss  was  burnt  as  a  heretic.  Jerome,  of 
Prague,  a  layman,  was  a  disciple  of  Huss,  and  his  superior  in 
learning  and  eloquence.  His  eminent  distinction  caused  him  to 
be  summoned  before  this  council  of  nations.  He  appeared  in 
April,  1416,  was  accused,  arraigned,  tried,  and  condemned; 
and  on  the  23d  of  May,  1416,  was  burnt.  The  details  of 
these  disgraceful  tragedies  are  highly  interesting.  These  men 
suffered  imprisonment,  the  most  offensive  indignities,  and  pain- 
ful death,  for  the  profession  of  opinions  which  are  now,  sub- 
stantially, the  creed  and  the  principle  of  practice,  with  all 
Christians  who  are  not  held  in  the  darkness  and  despotism  of 
the  Roman  church. 

From  the  election  of  Martin  V.  to  the  commencement  of  the 
reformation,  was  about  one  hundred  years.  In  this  space  of 
time  there  were  eleven  pontiffs  of  various  characters.  The 
general  tendency  of  church  affairs  was  from  bad  to  worse.  No 
further  notice  can  be  taken,  in  these  brief  sketches,,  of  the 
progress  of  decline,  than  to  mention  some  of  the  most  remark- 
able among  these  pontiffs,  and  some  of  the  events  which  led 
to  the  great  revolution  in  the  Christian  world  in  the  days  of 
Luther. 

Martin  V.  was  pope  till  1431,  and  was  succeeded  by  Euge- 
nius  IV.,  from  1431  to  1447.  The  election  of  Eugenius  is 
said  to  have  arisen  from  this  accident : — Each  of  the  electors 
intended,  in  the  first  essay,  to  learn  the  designs  of  the  others, 


PAPAL    SUCCESSION.  439 

and  therefore  threw  away  his  vote  on  some  one  of  the  con- 
clave whom  no  one  intended  to  elect.  It  happened  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  votes  were  thus  thrown  away  on  Eugenius,  be- 
cause he  was  the  most  unfit  person  for  the  office.  He  was 
chosen,  and  was,  probably,  that  one  who  did  most  to  bring  the 
papal  authority  into  contempt.  A  remarkable  event  occurred 
in  his  time,  the  union  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches,  at  a 
treaty  began  at  Ferrara  and  ended  at  Florence,  at  which  the 
pope  and  the  Greek  emperor  were  present.  The  same  day  on 
which  this  treaty  was  signed  by  the  pope,  he  was  deposed  by 
the  council  sitting  at  Basle.  Of  these  events  an  account  is 
contained  in  Gibbon's  66th  chapter  of  the  Decline  and  Fall 
of  the  Roman  Empire. 

Nicholas  V.  (from  1447  to  1455)  was  a  man  of  literature, 
and  the  patron  of  learned  men.  The  revival  of  ancient  learn- 
ing engaged  many  minds,  and  none  more  than  that  of  Nicho- 
las. He  founded  the  Vatican  library,  and  multiplied  copies  of 
manuscripts.  He  repaired  the  public  buildings  of  Rome. 
The  Jubilee  occurred  in  his  time,  (1450,)  and  such  was  the 
immense  concourse  that  many  persons  were  crushed  to  death. 
Ninety-seven  persons  were,  at  the  same  time,  crowded  from 
the  bridge 'of  St.  Angelo,  and  drowned.  The  gains  of  the 
church  from  this  devout  pilgrimage  have  been  estimated  at  an 
enormous  amount.  At  this  time  the  conquest  of  Constantino- 
ple, by  the  Turks,  alarmed  Europe,  and  Nicholas  took  a  very 
active  part  to  resist  them.  His  death  occurred  in  the  midst  of 
these  efforts. 

Calixtus  III.  (from  1455  to  1458)  is  memorable  for  his 
avarice,  and  for  having  introduced  nepotism,  or  the  provision 
for  nephews  and  other  family  connexions,  out  of  the  revenues 
of  the  church. 

Pius  II.  (from  1458  to  1464)  was  iEneas  Sylvius,  who  has 
left  some  memorials  of  himself.  He  was  of  the  distinguished 
family  in  Piccolomini,  in  Italy.  His  life  of  the  emperor  Fred- 
erick III,  and  history  of  Bohemia,  are  among  these  memori- 
als. His  travels,  in  the  character  of  a  diplomatist,  in  various 
parts  of  Europe,  had  given  him  celebrity.  While  secretary 
of  the  council  of  Basle,  a  cpntinuation  of  that  of  Constance, 
he  vigorously  asserted  the  controlling  power  of  councils  ;  but 
when  he  became  pope  himself,  his  opinions  were  entirely 
changed.  While  attempting  to  combine  Europe  against  the 
Turks,  death  put  an  end  to  his  projects. 

Paul  II.  (from  1464  to  1471)  appears  to  have  exercised  the 
powers  of  office  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  make  them 


440  PAPAL    SUCCESSION. 

odious.  He  affected  to  see  that  the  church  was  endangered 
by  learned  men,  who  were  in  no  way  connected  with  it.  "  Sev- 
eral individuals,  of  great  literary  and  moral  reputation,  suffer- 
ed on  the  rack  ;  one,  in  particular,  died  under  the  torture.  He 
did  not  succeed  in  eliciting  any  confession,  or  in  discovering 
any  shadow  of  heresy  or  conspiracy  ;  nor  did  he  produce  any 
other  result  than  to  create  one  additional  motive  for  execrating 
his  name." 

Sixtus  IV.,  from  1471  to  1484.  The  character  of  Sixtus 
has  been  already  disclosed  in  the  sketches  of  France.  His 
warfare  against  the  Christian  states  of  Italy,  while  the  Turks 
were  threatening  these  states  with  actual  invasion,  is  the  least 
of  the  reproaches  due  to  his  memory.  His  undenied  partici- 
pation in  the  conspiracy  to  murder  Lorenzo  de  Medici  and  his 
brother,  is  not  the  act  which  contributed  most  to  the  degrada- 
tion of  the  pontifical  office.  There  were  four  persons  who 
passed  for  his  nephews,  whatever  their  real  relation  to  him 
may  have  been.  The  first  of  them,  Leonard  de  la  Rovera,  he 
married  to  a  natural  daughter  of  Ferdinand  of  Naples.  To 
obtain  this  alliance  he  abandoned  to  that  king  several  impor- 
tant fiefs  of  the  church,  acquired  by  his  predecessors.  The 
second,  Julian  de  la  Rovera,  and  the  third,  Jerome  Riario, 
were  enriched  at'  the  expense  of  the  church.  Piero  Riario, 
the  most  worthless  and  debased  of  the  four,  was  enabled  to 
live  on  the  revenues  of  the  church  in  a  splendor  hardly  equal- 
led by  that  of  any  monarch  in  Europe.  Sixtus  raised  his  own 
valet,  a  very  young  person,  to  the  dignity  of  cardinal.  To 
supply  the  drain  on  his  treasury,  he  invented  new  offices, 
which  he  openly  sold  for  the  most  he  could  obtain.  The 
principal  occupations  of  Sixtus  were,  the  aggrandizement  of 
his  nephews,  and  keeping  the  states  of  Europe  in  warfare 
with  each  other,  throughout  his  pontificate.  His  death,  in 
August,  1484,  is  supposed  to  have  been  hastened  by  chagrin, 
that  a  peace  had  been  effected  among  these  states.  These  acts 
of  Sixtus  would  not  deserve  notice  for  any  other  purpose  than 
to  show  the  constant  declension  of  the  church  ;  and  to  show, 
also,  the  accumulating  causes  of  that  public  sentiment,  which 
was  soon  to  be  manifested  by  open  insurrection  against  the 
papal  authority. 

Innocent  VIII.,  from  1484  to  1492.  This  pope  purchased 
the  chair  of  St.  Peter  by  the  agency  of  Julian  della  Rovera, 
one  of  the  nephews  of  Sixtus.  The  benefices  and  emoluments 
immediately  bestowed  on  the  sacred  college  of  cardinals,  is 
the   well-known  evidence  of  this  fact.     While  this  pontiff 


BORGIA.  441 

amused  the  representatives  of  sovereigns  at  his  court  with 
commendations  of  peace  and  concord  among  themselves,  and 
union  among  the  states  of  Europe  to  resist  the  infidels,  who 
were  threatening  invasion,  he  was  very  differently  occupied  in 
his  own  purposes.  The  oaths  which  he  took  to  procure  his 
election  were  wholly  disregarded.  He  gave  a  cardinal's  hat 
to  a  boy  of  only  thirteen  years  of  age,  son  of  Lorenzo  de 
Medici.  It  is  charged  upon  Sixtus  that  he  enriched  nephews 
at  the  expense  of  the  holy  see ;  but  Innocent  surpassed  him, 
in  openly  providing  for  seven  of  his  own  illegitimate  children 
out  of  the  ecclesiastical  treasury.  "  He  was  weak,  corrupt, 
destitute  of  profound  views,  and  inconstant  in  such  as  he  had. 
Being  governed  by  unworthy  favorites,  his  administration  was 
stained  by  all  their  vices."  (Sismondi,  vol.  xi.  p.  250.)  His 
indolence  was  not  less  injurious  than  the  restless  turbulence  of 
his  predecessor. 

Alexander  VI.,  from  1492  to  1503.  The  exas'peration  of 
the  Roman  people  against  the  conduct  and  infamy  of  Inno- 
cent, and  of  those  whom  he  permitted  to  act  in  his  name,  had 
so  terrified  the  sacred  college,  that  they  dared  not  to  proceed 
to  a  new  election  until  the  electoral  palace  was  defended  by 
soldiers  and  cannon.  Roderic  Borgia  and  Julian  de  la  Ro- 
vera  were  the  two  prominent  candidates.  The  electors  had 
only  to  compute  the  gains  to  themselves  in  the  selection. 
Borgia  was  most  able  to  reward.  He  had  already  acquired 
great  riches  as  nephew  of  Calixtus  III.  Waddington,  in  his 
History  of  the  Church,  says,  that  he  had  placed  two  mules, 
loaded  with  gold,  at  the  disposal  of  the  cardinals,  to  be  used 
as  circumstances  might  require.  Sismondi  says,  four  loaded 
mules  were  confided  to  the  cardinal  Sforza,  brother  of  the  duke 
of  Milan,  to  purchase  doubtful  consciences.  The  patriarchal 
cardinal  of  Venice  had  five  thousand  ducats,  and  others  receiv- 
ed gold  in  like  manner.  The  election  having  fallen  to  Borgia, 
the  same  author  says,  that  the  electors  were  thus  rewarded  : 
On  Ascagna  Sforza  he  conferred  the  profitable  dignity  of  vice- 
chancellor  ;  to  cardinal  Orsini,  he  ceded  his  palace  at  Rome, 
with  the  chateau  of  Monticello  and  Soriano ;  to  cardinal  Co- 
lonna  he  gave  the  abbey  of  Subbiaco,  with  all  the  chateaux  ; 
to  the  cardinal  of  St.  Angelo,  the  bishopric  of  Porto,  together 
with  his  furniture  and  a  cellar  of  delicious  wines ;  to  the  car- 
dinal of  Parma  the  town  of  Nepi ;  to  the  cardinal  of  Genoa 
the  church  of  St.  Mary,  and  the  town  of  Citta  Castellana. 
The  rest  were  paid  in  gold.  Five  only  of  the  whole  college, 
one  of  whom  was  Julian,  his  rival,  are  believed  to  have  refused 


442  BORGIA. 

to  sell  their  votes.  Roderick  Borgia  had  been  publicly  cen- 
sured while  a  cardinal,  for  his  undisguised  debaucheries.  He 
afterwards  dwelt  with  a  Roman  matron,  Vanozia,  by  whom 
he  had  seven  children.  Though  his  daughter  Lucretia  was 
yet  very  young,  she  made  a  fourth  marriage.  The  first  was 
with  a  Neapolitan  gentleman.  When  Alexander  became  pope, 
he  considered  this  alliance  as  too  degrading,  and  pronounced 
a  divorce,  that  he  might  marry  her  to  John  Sforza,  lord  of 
Pesaro.  Afterwards  it  appeared  that  an  alliance  with  Alfonso, 
of  Arragon,  a  natural  son  of  Alfonso,  king  of  Naples,  would 
better  accord  with  the  dignity  and  designs  of  the  Borgia  fami- 
ly, and  a  second  divorce  was  pronounced  to  accomplish  this 
marriage.  The  king  of  Naples  having  become  a  fugitive, 
this  marriage  failed  of  producing  the  expected  benefits,  and 
this  third  husband  was  murdered  at  Rome.  The  reputation  of 
Lucretia  was  too  infamous  to  be  described,  yet  Alexander  cel- 
ebrated her  nuptials  Jan.  7,  1502,  with  Alfonso,  oldest  son  of 
the  duke  of  Ferrara,  in  his  own  palace. 

Such  was  the  fallen  state  of  morals  at  Rome,  that  these  abom- 
inable acts  excited  no  emotion.  The  political  conduct  of  Alex- 
ander VI.  has  already  been  noticed  in  connection  with  the  in- 
vasion of  Naples,  by  Charles  VIII.,  of  France.  The  perfidi- 
ous conduct  of  Alexander  concerning  Zem  Zem,  or  Jem,  the 
brother  of  the  Turkish  sultan,  is  illustrative  of  the  moral  per- 
ceptions of  this  pope.  The  discovery  of  the  route  to  India,  by 
the  Portuguese,  occurred  just  before  the  time  of  Alexander; 
and  the  discovery  of  the  American  continent,  while  he  was  en- 
throned. The  Christian  right  to  the  new  world  is  dignified  by 
the  concession,  or  gift,  of  such  a  pontiff  as  Alexander.  His 
pretension  to  make  it  was  founded  on  the  arrogance  of  Grego- 
ry VII.,  Innocent  III.,  and  Boniface  VIII.  That  arrogance 
was  founded  on  the-  forgery  of  the  monk  Isodorus,  or  of  some 
other  monk.  On  such  a  basis  Alexander  took  on  himself  to 
decide  the  conflicts  which  had  arisen  between  Spain  and  Por- 
tugal. But  that  which  is  amusing  to  this  age  is,  that  the 
concessions,  or  gifts  of  the  new  worlds,  were  made  by  this 
man,  on  condition  that  missionaries  should  be  dispatched  forth- 
with, to  convert  their  inhabitants,  and  to  cause  "  the  extension  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  of  the  Catholic  church." 

The  second  and  favorite  son  of  the  pope,  was  Caesar  Bor- 
gia, the  son  of  Vanozia,  also,  whom  the  pope  had  caused  to 
pass  through  the  forms  of  wedlock  with  an  inferior  Roman  cit- 
izen. The  word  "Borgia"  (Roderic  Borgia,  the  father,  and 
Caesar  Borgia,  the  son)  is  connected  with  such  a  complication 


BORGIA.  443 

of  horrible  crimes  as  to  have  become  the  comprehensive  name 
for  human  baseness  and  infamy.  Caesar  began  his  career  in 
the  church,  but  soon  laid  aside  the  dignities  of  clerical  life,  for 
the  gain  and  the  glory  of  the  sword.  Alexander  bestowed  on 
his  oldest  son,  called  the  duke  of  Candia,  the  duchy  of  Bene- 
vento;  the  counties  of  Terracina,  and  Ponte-Corvo.  These 
gifts  displeased  Caesar,  and  the  murder  of  his  brother  was  the 
consequence.  Caesar  was  commissioned  by  his  father  to  carry 
to  Louis  XII,  of  France,  a  bull  of  divorce,  and  of  dispensation 
for  a  new  marriage.  Louis  rewarded  Caesar  with  the  title  of 
Valentinois,  with  the  duchy  annexed  thereto;  gave  him  a  body- 
guard of  100  men,  and  20,000  livres  a  year.  In  1499  Caesar 
married  the  daughter  of  John,  king  of  Navarre.  This  mar- 
riage connected  him  with  Spanish  affairs,  and  had  some  in- 
fluence on  his  future  destiny.  His  main  object  appears  to 
have  been  with  the  knowledge  and  connivance  of  his  father,  to 
carve  out  a  kingdom  for  himself,  northwardly  of  Rome. 

The  thirteenth  volume  of  Sismondi's  history  of  the  Italian 
republics  contains  a  full  narration  of  the  atrocious  crimes  of 
Alexander  VI.,  and  his  son  Caesar;  not  only  those  which  were 
perpetrated  by  them,  severally,  but  those  which  were  the  joint 
and  deliberate  acts  of  both.  There  is  hardly  a  crime  known 
among  men  of  which  these  two  persons  were  not  guilty.  It 
rather  becomes  history  to  be  silent,  and  to  veil  from  the  human 
mind,  that  such  crimes  could  be  committed,  than  to  aid  in  pre- 
serving the  memory  of  them.  Yet  it  is  said  of  this  Caesar 
Borgia,  that  he  was  temperate  and  sober ;  that  he  loved  and  pro- 
tected the  sciences,  and  even  wrote  verses  himself;  that  he  was 
cool,  deliberate,  eloquent,  and  could  seduce  even  those  who  were 
most  guarded  against  him,  by  a  knowledge  of  his  treacherous 
character.  His  purposes  met  a  final  check  in  the  death  of  his 
father.  The  new  pope  was  his  implacable  foe.  He  was  com- 
pelled to  fly  to  Naples.  Here  he  was  arrested  and  sent  prison- 
er to  Spain.  After  two  years  of  confinement  he  escaped,  and 
took  refuge  with  his  brother-in-law,  the  king  of  Navarre.  He 
accompanied  this  brother  in  the  war  waged  against  Castile, 
and  was  killed  by  a  shot,  March,  1507. 

The  manner,  and  the  cause  of  the  death  of  Alexander  the 
sixth,  are  differently  stated.  Presuming  Sismondi  to  be  the 
best  authority,  his  account  is  followed.  One  cannot  doubt  that 
natural  justice  would  incline  to  take  it  to  be  true.  Of  the  forty- 
three  cardinals,  who  were  made  such  by  Alexander,  no  one  is 
supposed  to  have  paid  less  than  10,000  florins;  equal  to  half  that 
number   of  pounds  sterling,  or  22,200   dollars.     Others  are 


444  BORGIA. 

known  to  have  paid  twice  or  thrice  as  much.  He  was  accus- 
ed of  having  caused  the  death  of  many  of  them,  who  had  ac- 
quired great  riches,  because  their  possessions  went,  on  their 
decease,  to  the  papal  treasury.  This  was  one  of  the  resources 
for  supplying  the  demands  of  Caesar,  the  prodigality  of  Lucre- 
tia,  and  the  enormous  expenses  of  his  other  children.  The  fol- 
lowing is  Sismondi's  account  of  the  death  of  Alexander,  (vol. 
xi.  pp.  243—6.) 

"  In  the  midst  of  these  projects  and  hopes,  pope  Alexander 
VI.  was  stricken  with  an  almost  sudden  death ;  the  duke,  Cae- 
sar Borgia,  his  son,  and  the  cardinal  de  Corneto,  were  at  the 
same  time,  reported  at  Rome,  almost  dead ;  and  the  body  of 
Alexander,  being  soon  covered  with  a  gangrene,  black  and 
frightful,  gave  reason  to  all  the  world  to  suppose  that  he,  his 
son,  and  guest,  were  victims  of  a  poison  which  he  had  prepar- 
ed for  another.  It  was  said  and  believed,  throughout  Italy,  that 
the  pope  had  invited  the  cardinal  de  Corneto  to  a  supper  in  the 
grove  of  the  Belvedere,  near  the  Vatican  ;  and  that  he  had  the 
intention  to  poison  the  cardinal,  as  he  had  before  poisoned 
three  other  cardinals,  formerly  his  zealous  ministers,  and  after- 
wards the  victims  of  his  avarice — that  the  duke  (Caesar)  had 
sent  bottles  of  wine,  prepared  by  himself,  to  the  cup-bearer  of 
the  pope,  without  letting  him  (the  cup-bearer)  into  his  confi- 
dence, but  only  cautioning  him  not  to  give  that  wine  without 
express  orders — that  during  the  momentary  absence  of  the  cup- 
bearer, the  person  who  occupied  his  place  gave  one  of  these 
bottles  to  the  pope,  to  Caesar  Borgia,  and  the  cardinal  de  Cor- 
neto. Corneto  said  to  Paul  Jovius,  that  at  the  moment  when 
he  drank  of  that  wine,  he  felt  in  his  entrails,  an  ardent  fire,  that 
his  eye-sight  failed  him,  and  presently,  his  senses ;  and  that  af- 
ter a  long  illness,  his  restoration  was  preceded  by  the  excoria- 
tion of  his  body  and  limbs."  Caesar  is  represented  to  have 
been  very  ill  from  the  effects  of  the  poison,  but  recovered.  (See 
another  account  in  Waddington's  Hist,  of  Ch.  p.  515,  516. 

However  deservedly  infamous  the  name  of  Alexander  VI. 
may  be,  he  has  the  merit  of  having  pronounced  some  judg- 
ments which  have  served  as  precedents  in  the  Catholic  church. 
That  church  is  also  indebted  to  him,  for  having  effectually  re- 
sisted the  progress  of  all  philosophy  and  intelligence  tending 
to  impair  confidence  in  the  Catholic  faith.  He  is  believed  to 
be  the  first  sovereign  who  interdicted  the  publication  of  all 
books,  without  previous  approbation.  By  his  bull  of  the  1st 
of  June,  1501,  he  prohibited  all  printers  from  publishing  any 
book,  on  pain  of  excommunication,  without   having  first  sub- 


leo  x.  445 

mitted  the  same  to  some  archbishop,  or  his  vicar ;  nor  then, 
without  a  certificate  of  assent. 

Pius  III.  was  elected  merely  to  give  the  cardinals  time  to  ar- 
range their  measures.  Pius  was  known  to  be  too  infirm  to 
live  too  long.     He  died  in  26  days. 

Julian  II.,  from  1503  to  1513.  He  was  the  nephew  of  Ca- 
lixtus  III.,  and  was  competitor  with  Alexander  VI.  His  elec- 
tion, like  that  of  his  immediate  predecessors,  was  purchased. 
He  was  a  warrior,  much  more  than  an  ecclesiastic,  and  devot- 
ed his  pontificate  to  the  re-establishment  of  sovereignty  overall 
the  territories  which  had  been  subject,  at  any  time,  to  the 
church.  No  pontifical  act  was  done  in  his  time  which  changed 
the  ecclesiastical  relations.  His  main  object  appeared  to  be, 
next  after  the  recovery  of  the  states  of  the  church,  to  expel  the 
French,  Spaniards,  and  Swiss,  from  Italy.  He  was  a  friend 
of  the  learned,  and  a  promoter  of  the  arts.  The  building  of 
of  St.  Peter's  church  had  been  designed  by  Nicholas  V. ;  the 
corner  stone  was  laid  by  this  pontiff  His  successor  was  Leo 
X.,  the  son  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  the  same  whom  Innocent 
VIII.  made  a  cardinal  at  the  age  of  thirteen.  In  the  time  of 
Leo  the  reformation  began.  That  revolution  in  the  church  be- 
longs to  another  survey,  intended  to  comprise  the  three  last 
centuries. 

We  have  seen,  in  the  ages  which  have  been  noticed,  the 
gradual  elevation  of  the  church  to  its  highest  power;  and,  also, 
the  gradual  decline,  occasioned  by  the  venality,  corruption  and 
turpitude  of  the  prelates  themselves.  The  disgust,  and  even 
indignation,  manifested  in  different  parts  of  Europe,  and  which 
were  the  precursors  of  the  reformation,  were  insufficient  to 
combine  a  force  capable  of  contending  with  ecclesiastical  pow- 
er. The  people  of  Europe  distinguished  between  the  church 
itself  and  its  unworthy  priesthood.  They  seemed  to  have  had 
no  disposition  to  war  with  the  former,  but  rather  to  preserve  it, 
while  they  earnestly  desired  to  reform  the  latter.  It  is  even 
doubtful,  whether,  down  to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the 
extreme  depravity  of  the  priesthood  at  Rome,  was  known  be- 
yond the  Alps,  as  it  was  known  in  and  near  that  city.  Some- 
thing more  moving  than  any  experience  hitherto  had,  was 
needed,  to  combine  and  give  direction  to  the  many  elements  of 
hostility,  which  had  been  long  forming  in  the  north  and  west. 
That  needed  impulse  came  in  the  time  of  Leo.  The  pardon- 
ing of  committed  sins,  and  entire  absolution,  had  long  been  one 
of  the  arrogant  assumptions  of  the  Church.  It  had  even  as- 
sumed to  grant  indulgences,  but  rather  in  the  form  of  dispen- 
38 


446  CRUSADES. 

sations.  The  profligate  sale,  by  itinerant  monks,  of  license  to 
commit  sins  of  any  enormity,  merely  to  enrich  the  papal 
treasury,  was  the  opprobrious  measure  which  led  the  way  in 
establishing  Protestant  Christianity. 

The  indignation  which  arose  on  this  traffic  in  indulgences, 
may  be  accounted  for  not  only  by  the  odious  character  of  this 
traffic,  but  from  other  causes.  There  had  been  a  gradual 
progress  in  learning.  More  than  two  centuries  had  elapsed 
since  there  were  classes  of  learned  laymen.  Fifty  years  had 
elapsed  since  the  Greek  philosophers,  expelled  from  Constan- 
tinople, had  taken  refuge  in  the  west,  especially  in  Italy.  Fifty 
years,  also,  had  elapsed  since  the  art  of  printing  had  been 
invented.  While  the  people  of  Europe  were  thus  advancing, 
the  church  had  been  declining  in  its  utility  and  its  claims  to 
confidence  and  veneration.  We  refer  to  another  place  for 
notices  of  intellectual  advancement,  and  conclude  the  sketches 
of  Rome  with  the  remark,  that  the  world  was  prepared  for 
a  revolution,  which  the  craving  profligacy  of  Leo  was  adapted 
to  commence.  To  which  may  be  added  that  of  the  Florentine 
Machiavel,  who  was  expressing  himself  on  his  own  percep- 
tions, (about  the  year  1510:) — "The  greatest  prognostic  of 
the  approaching  ruin  of  Christianity,  is,  to  see  that  the  nearer 
people  are  to  Rome,  which  is  the  capital  of  Christianity,  the 
less  devotion  they  have.  The  scandalous  examples,  the  crimes 
of  the  court  of  Rome,  have  occasioned  Italy  to  lose  entirely 
every  principle  of  piety,  and  every  sentiment  of  religion." 


CHAPTER  LXI. 

THE    CRUSADES,    FROM    1096    TO     1291. 

There  is  a  deep  and  sincere  sorrow  among  all  Christians 
of  the  present  time,  that  the  land  where  the  author  of  their 
faith  appeared,  and  was  crucified,  is  possessed  by  people  who 
abhor  that  faith,  and  who  are  enemies  to  all  who  profess  it. 
The  like  sorrow  was  felt  at  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century. 
However  deep  and  sincere  this  feeling  may  have  been,  at  any 
time,  it  could  not  be  a  motive  sufficiently  strong,  of  itself,  to 
arm  Christians,  and  engage  them  in  a  war  to  acquire  and 
defend  the  holy  land.  A  combination  of  nations  was  indis- 
pensable to  this  purpose.     Its  elements  are  found  in  the  con- 


CRUSADES.  447 

dition  of  the  people  of  Europe ;  in  the  subjection  of  the  tem- 
poral to  the  spiritual  power ;  but,  especially,  and  as  the  soul 
of  all  other  elements,  in  the  comprehensive  plans  and  effective 
ability  of  Gregory  VII.  These  plans  are  known,  as  certainly 
as  any  facts  of  the  same  age,  from  the  letters  of  Gregory,  in 
which  they  are  plainly  disclosed.  His  own  motives  are,  and 
must  ever  be,  subject  to  conjecture.  He  may  have  persuaded 
himself  that  the  execution  of  his  plans  was  a  duty  to  the  tem- 
poral and  spiritual  communities.  He  may  have  intended  to 
subject  both  to  his  own  dominion  and  to  that  of  his  successors, 
as  the  end  and  only  end  to  be  obtained,  regardless  of  the  mo- 
rality and  justice  of  the  means  to  be  used.  Whatever  motives 
may  be  attributed,  the  grandeur  of  his  conceptions,  and  the 
boldness  of  his  execution,  must  be  admitted.  Worldly  wisdom, 
also,  was  his  just  attribute,  since  no  man,  of  any  age,  better 
understood  how  to  use  all  means  which  could  be  applied  to 
the  accomplishment  of  his  purposes.  The  opinions,  hopes, 
fears,  and  relations  of  all  the  princes,  nobles,  and  people  of 
Europe,  had  been  the  subjects  of  intense  thought  with  Gregory, 
for  twenty  years  before  he  ascended  the  papal  throne.  The 
result  to  which  all  his  thoughts  tended,  was  the  absolute  sub- 
jection of  all  to  the  will  of  one  man,  placed  in  that  seat  of 
authority  to  which  he  aspired.  His  design  was  nothing  short 
of  the  establishment  of  a  spiritual  empire  over  all  those  regions 
of  the  earth  which  the  Romans  had  subjected  by  the  force  and 
terror  of  their  arms. 

Long  before  the  time  of  Gregory,  pilgrimages  to  Jerusalem 
were  frequently  undertaken  and  accomplished  without  moles- 
tation. Palestine  was  then  held  by  the  Arabians,  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan faith,  who  permitted  these  devout  visits.  In  the 
year  1075,  the  Arabians  had  been  overthrown  by  the  Turks, 
who,  though  of  the  faith  of  Mohammed,  were  a  barbarous 
people.  They  made  the  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem  perilous, 
and  difficult  to  be  performed,  in  any  manner.  These  Turks 
threatened  to  despoil  the  Greek  empire  (of  Constantinople)  of 
all  its  possessions  in  Asia.  The  emperor  wrote  to  Gregory 
to  make  known  the  danger,  and  to  invite  his  aid  in  defending 
the  common  interest  of  Christians.  Gregory  saw,  in  this  state 
of  things,  opportunities  to  promote  his  great  purposes — the 
subjection  of  the  clergy  and  of  the  laity,  and  the  extension  of 
the  Christian  empire  in  the  east.  The  common  accounts  of 
the  crusades  begin  with  the  preaching  of  Peter  of  Amiens, 
(north  of  France,)  usually  called  the  Hermit.  The  eloquence 
of  this  enthusiast  would,  probably,  have  produced  little  effect, 


448  CRUSADES. 


if  he  had  not  been  sustained  by  the  designs  of  Gregory.  Nor 
could  these  designs  have  been  accomplished,  if  this  adroit 
manager  had  not  known  how  to  take  advantage  of  the 
peculiar  state  of  European  population.  The  whole  of  the 
Christian  territory  of  Europe  was  held  by  petty  sovereigns, 
and  cultivated  by  their  vassals.  Those  who  were  not  held  to 
labor,  were  destitute  of  all  other  occupation  than  hunting,  rude 
feasting,  and  war.  The  principal  occupation  of  the  mind  was 
the  ceremonies  and  the  superstitions  of  the  church.  The 
proposal  of  new  occupation,  which  involved  adventure,  plun- 
der, military  glory,  the  destruction  of  infidels,  the  glory  of  the 
church,  was  adapted  to  the  perceptions  of  the  age.  No  greater 
glory  could  be  hoped  for  on  earth,  than  to  vanquish  the  ene- 
mies of  the  Christian  faith,  and  to  restore  the  holy  sepulchre 
to  the  custody  of  the  church.  The  means  could  not  be  fore- 
seen even  by  the  far-sighted  Gregory,  in  all  their  extent  and 
application.  They  arose  with  circumstances,  and  were  applied 
as  they  arose.  Gregory  wrote  letters  to  all  the  sovereigns  of 
Europe  to  invite  them  to  engage  in  a  crusade  against  the 
Turks.  (Koch,  vol.  i.  p.  130.)  His  quarrel  with  Henry  IV. 
did  not  permit  him  to  pursue  this  object,  and  he  died  before 
its  commencement.  In  1094,  Peter  the  Hermit  returned 
from  Jerusalem,  with  letters  from  the  patriarch  there,  address- 
ed to  the  princes  of  the  west.  He  traversed  Italy,  Germany, 
and  France,  representing  the  profanation  of  the  holy  places, 
and  the  miserable  condition  of  the  poor  pilgrims.  When 
Peter  had  made  the  desired  impression,  Urban  II.  went  to 
Clermont,  in  France,  two  hundred  miles  south  of  Paris,  where 
he  pronounced,  to  an  assembly  of  great  numbers,  a  pathetic 
discourse,/  A  crusade  was  then  resolved  on.  All  who  placed 
a  red  c^ss  on  the  right  shoulder,  forthwith  obtained  the  re- 
miss iorL.  of  --their  sins,  and  security  from  punishment  as  to 
all  future  sins) 

The  crusades  were  seven  in  number.  The  first  began  in 
1095;  the  last  expiring  effort  was  made  in  1291.  The  three 
first  divisions  of  the  first  crusade,  led  by  Peter,  were  promis- 
cuous multitudes,  who  went  towards  the  east  by  the  Danube. 
They  had  no  provisions,  and  moved  without  order  or  disci- 
pline, plundering  and  burning  as  they  went.  Most  of  them 
perished  by  famine,  disease,  or  by  the  sword  of  those  whom 
they  outraged.  In  August,  1096,  a  regular  army,  under 
Godefroi  de  Bouillon,  duke  of  Lower  Lorraine,  on  the  Rhine, 
moved  towards  Palestine,  by  the  Danube  and  Constantinople. 
Anne    Comneni,  an  accomplished  princess,  daughter  of  the 


CRUSADES.  449 

emperor,  says, — "  It  seemed  as  though  all  Europe,  raised  from 
its  foundations,  was  going  to  throw  itself  on  Asia."  The  dis- 
asters and  varieties  of  fortune  experienced  by  Godefroi,  in  his 
way  to  Jerusalem,  must  pass  unnoticed.  On  the  15th  of  July, 
1099,  he  made  himself  master  of  that  city.  He  was  declared 
king  of  Jerusalem,  and  his  followers  desired  to  crown  him. 
He  refused,  saying, — "  he  would  not  wear  a  golden  crown, 
where  his  Lord  and  master  had  worn  one  of  thorns."  Gode- 
froi is  recorded  to  have  been  an  able  man,  and,  much  more  to 
his  praise,  he  is  commended  to  the  readers  of  history  as  sin- 
gularly magnanimous  and  virtuous  for  that  age.  He  died  just 
one  year  after  this  conquest,  and  was  buried  at  Jerusalem. 

The  renown  of  this  conquest  led  to  many  maritime  expedi- 
tions from  Italy.  The  Pisans,  the  Genoese,  and  the  Venetians, 
probably  prompted  more  by  commercial  interests  than  holy 
zeal,  sent  fleets  to  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean. 
The  whole  of  Palestine  was  conquered,  and  the  country  north 
of  it  along  the  whole  coast  of  that  sea ;  and,  by  the  year  1 146, 
the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  extended  to  the  Euphrates ;  and 
Edessa  in  Mesopotamia,  twenty  miles  beyond  that  river,  a 
place  of  great  celebrity  as  well  as  strength,  was  included  in  its 
limits. 

In  1142,  the  Saracens  besieged  and  took  Edessa.  Eugene 
III.,  then  on  the  papal  throne,  besought  the  princes  of  Europe 
to  engage  in  a  new  crusade.  He  was  supported  by  the  pow- 
erful eloquence  of  Clair vaux  St.  Bernard,  the  most  eminent 
man  of  his  time.  Louis  VII.,  of  France,  and  Conrad  III., 
emperor  of  Germany,  engaged  in  this  crusade,  which  is  the 
first  in  which  crowned  heads  went  to  the  east.  Both  these 
princes  met  with  serious  disasters.  Conrad  was  defeated  by 
the  sultan  Massoud.  Louis  effected  nothing.  Both  these 
princes  returned  to  Europe,  having  lost  the  principal  part  of 
their  armies.  In  1171  the  great  Saladin  became  sultan.  The 
kingdom  of  Jerusalem,  weakened  by  interior  factions,  was 
unable  to  resist  this  accomplished  warrior.  In  1187  he  took 
Jerusalem,  and  that  city  was  never  again  in  possession  of  the 
Christians  but  once,  and  then  only  for  a  very  short  time. 
[Prof.  Heeren's  Essai  sur  les  Croisades,  p.  23.] 

Gregory  VIII.,  availing  himself  of  the  loss  of  Jerusalem, 
and  the  consequent  disgrace  to  all  Christendom,  roused  Philip 
Augustus,  of  France,  Richard  I.,  (Coeur  de  Lion,  lion-hearted,) 
of  England,  and  Frederick  Barbarossa,  of  Germany,  to  unite 
in  a  crusade.  These  three  monarchs  embodied  powerful 
armies,  and  called  to  their  banners  the  noble  and  adventurous 
38* 


450  CRUSADES. 

warriors  of  that  age.  This  preparation  for  the  important  and 
sacred  warfare,  was  the  most  imposing  event  of  the  middle 
ages.  Frederick  departed  in  1190,  by  the  way  of  the  Danube 
and  Constantinople.  He  met  with  many  disasters  and  severe 
losses  in  passing  through  Asia  Minor.  Having  arrived  at  the 
river  Cydnus,  near  the  north-east  corner  of  the  Mediterranean, 
he  bathed  in  its  waters,  and  brought  on  an  illness  of  which  he 
soon  died.  Philip  marched  his  army  over  the  Alps  to  Genoa, 
and  embarked  there  ;  Richard  marched  his  army  to  Marseilles, 
and  embarked  there.  The  same  storm  drove  the  fleets  of  both 
into  Messina,  in  Sicily,  where  they  passed  the  winter.  Very 
serious  misunderstandings  arose  between  the  two  kings  at  this 
place,  and  though  the  adventure  was  near  to  have  been  aban- 
doned, a  compromise  was  effected,  and,  in  the  spring  of  1191, 
they  proceeded  to  the  east.  This  quarrel  was  one  of  the 
causes  of  the  defective  execution  of  the  original  design. — 
Another  storm  forced  the  two  kings  into  the  island  of  Cyprus, 
then  in  possession  of  the  Greeks.  Richard,  offended  at  the 
treatment  experienced  there,  took  possession  of  the  island,  and 
erected  it  into  a  kingdom.  A  contest  having  arisen  between 
Guy  de  Lusignan  and  Conrad,  marquis  of  Montferrat,  con- 
cerning the  right  to  the  crown  of  Jerusalem,  Richard  gave 
Cyprus  to  Lusignan,  on  his  resigning  to  Conrad  his  preten- 
sions. The  titular  claim' to  the  crown  of  Jerusalem  passed  to 
the  royal  family  of  Naples,  thence  to  the  house  of  Anjou,  in 
France,  and  thence  to  the  kings  of  France  ;  an  empty  sound, 
though  continued  two  centuries  after  the  Christians  had  lost 
their  last  hold  on  Palestine. 

The  English  and  the  French  found  the  crusaders  engaged 
in  besieging  St.  Jean  d' Acre,  (on  the  coast,)  called  also  Ptole- 
mais.  This  place  was  taken  with  their  joint  assistance,  and 
was  the  last  wrested  from  the  Christians,  one  hundred  years 
afterwards.  Richard  acquired  great  renown  in  this  siege. 
Philip  soon  became  disgusted,  and  returned  to  France,  leaving 
Richard  ten  thousand  of  his  army.  Left  to  himself,  Richard 
disclosed  great  military  talents,  and  is  remembered  in  romance 
and  in  history  as  the  able,  equal,  and  ambitious  rival  of  the 
illustrious  Saladin.  Sir  Walter  Scott,  taking  historical  facts 
as  a  guide,  has  embellished  the  achievements  of  Richard  in 
Palestine,  and  has  secured  to  them,  and  his  own  genius,  an 
equal  duration  in  memory.  Richard  fought  his  way  to  the 
close  neighborhood  of  Jerusalem,  and  could  have  retaken  it,  it 
is  said,  if  his  army  had  not  become  impatient,  and  determined 
to  return.     A  truce  was  made  with  Saladin  for  three  years, 


CRUSADES.  451 

three  months,  three  weeks,  three  clays,  and  three  hours,  with 
the  privilege  to  pilgrims  to  visit  the  holy  city  unmolested. 
Saladin  died  at  Damascus  soon  after  concluding  this  truce. 
Before  he  expired,  he  ordered  his  winding  sheet  to  be  carried 
through  every  street,  preceded  by  a  crier,  who  proclaimed, — 
"  This  is  all  that  remains  to  the  mighty  Saladin,  the  conqueror 
of  the  east." 

Richard  dared  not  to  enter  France  in  his  way  home,  and 
therefore  sailed  for  the  Adriatic,  intending  to  pass  through 
Germany  in  disguise.  He  was  discovered,  and  arrested  by 
Leopold,  duke  of  Austria,  whom  Richard  had  offended  at  the 
siege  of  Acre.  The  emperor,  Henry  VI.,  and  Philip  of 
France,  conspired  to  keep  Richard  a  prisoner,  on  pretence  of 
divers  unfounded  charges  while  in  Palestine.  During  his 
confinement  he  was  treated  with  great  insult  and  indignity. 
His  brother  John  had  usurped  the  throne,  and  was  alike  wil- 
ling, with  the  king  and  emperor,  that  Richard  should  remain 
their  prisoner.  A  bargain  was  at  length  made  for  his  libera- 
tion. The  payment  of  one  hundred  thousand  marks,  (equal 
to  about  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand  dollars,) 
was  required.  This  enormous  sum  was  raised  by  his  subjects, 
the  priests  of  the  churches  and  monasteries,  among  others,  vol- 
untarily contributing  their  plate.  Yet,  he  escaped  narrowly 
new  plots,  and  reached  England,  after  an  absence  of  near 
three  years  in  Palestine,  and  fourteen  months  while  in  cap- 
tivity.    [Hume's  History  of  England,  chap,  x.] 

On  the  pressing  solicitation  of  pope  Celestine  III.,  Henry 
VI.  of  Germany,  son  and  successor  of  Frederick  I.,  undertook 
a  crusade,  with  a  numerous  army,  in  1196.  Henry's  army 
went  by  the  Danube  and  Constantinople,  himself  by  the  Med- 
iterranean, as  far  as  Sicily,  where  he  died.  The  army  reached 
Palestine,  and  took  ancient  Sidon,  and  some  other  towns  of 
less  consequence.  Great  efforts  and  large  sums  of  money, 
solicited  and  exacted,  produced  another  crusade  in  1203,  un- 
dertaken from  Venice,  by  Venetians,  Norman  French  of  Italy, 
and  others  from  France,  and  many  adventurers.  This  cru- 
sade, like  all  others,  was  instituted  by  a  pope,  who  was,  at  this 
time,  Innocent  III.  But  it  did  not  even  depart  for  Palestine. 
The  money  necessary  for  the  expedition  not  having  been  fully 
supplied,  the  crusaders  remedied  this  embarrassment  by  attack- 
ing the  city  of  Zara,  though  then  belonging  to  the  Christian 
king  of  Hungary.  This  city  is  on  the  coast  of  Dalmatia,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  south-east  of  Venice,  and  was,  ancient- 
ly, a  place  of  much  distinction.     The  emperor   Isaac  II.  had 


452  CRUSADES. 

been  dethroned  by  his  brother,  Alexis  III.  Himself  and  his  son 
applied  to  the  crusaders,  and  induced  them  by  munificent  pro- 
mises, to  employ  their  forces  in  an  effort  to  recover  the  throne. 
The  solicitations  of  the  Greek  princes,  begun  at  Venice,  were 
renewed  at  Zara,  and  were  successful.  The  crusaders  sailed 
for  Constantinople,  and  possessed  themselves  of  that  city,  and 
instead  of  restoring  Isaac,  established  the  Latin  throne,  and 
placed  thereon  Boudoin,  count  of  Flanders.  This  kingdom 
continued  fifty-seven  years,  from  1204  to  1261,  when  the 
Greeks  again  possessed  themselves  of  Constantinople.  This 
conquest  by  the  crusaders  in  1204,  was  expected  to  be  very 
serviceable  to  the  main  object,  the  conquest  and  possession  of 
Palestine.  No  such  consequences  ensued.  Future  expeditions 
were  all  conducted  by  sea.  In  the  60th  chapter  of  Gibbon's 
Decline  and  Fall,  the  origin  and  progress  of  this  crusade  is 
narrated  by  that  learned  historian.  Considering  it  as  part  of 
the  history  of  the  Greek  empire,  it  will  be  again  taken  into 
view  in  a  future  page. 

The  indefatigable  popes,  for  reasons  presently  to  be  stated, 
besought,  by  turns,  all  the  sovereigns  of  Europe  to  engage  in 
crusades.  No  measure  was  neglected,  whereby  a  promise 
could  be  obtained ;  and  when  obtained,  the  performance  was  ex- 
acted as  a  most  solemn  religious  duty.  Andrew  II.  of  Hungary, 
was  thus  forced  into  a  crusade  in  1217;  and  Frederick  II.  of 
Germany  was  excommunicated  for  not  going  to  Palestine  as 
he  promised  to  do,  and  at  length  departed  in  1228,  while  under 
this  papal  denunciation.  This  was  in  the  time  of  Gregory 
IX.,  who  feared  and  hated  Frederick,  and  who  is  supposed  to 
have  been  more  earnest  to  ruin  this  emperor  than  to  conquer 
the  Saracens.  Frederick  recovered  Jerusalem,  and  held  it  for 
a  time.  He  then  wore  two  crowns,  those  of  Germany  and  Na- 
ples. He  added  that  of  Jerusalem,  which  he  claimed  from  hav- 
ing married  an  heiress,  descended  from  that  Conrad,  before  men- 
tioned in  connexion  with  Richard  I.  This  conquest  was  made  in 
1228,  and  lost  in  the  following  year.  This  was  the  last  posses- 
sion of  that  city  by  the  Christians.  He  made  a  truce  of  ten 
years.  After  that,  in  1240,  Thibaut,  king  of  Navarre,  and 
count  of  Champagne,  a  celebrated  warrior  and  poet,  assembled 
a  force  composed  principally  of  French  noblemen  and  their 
followers.  Discord  and  dissension  among  themselves,  entirely 
defeated  this  adventure. 

There  were  some  other  expeditions  to  the  Holy  Land, 
which  were  entirely  independent  of  any  which  have  been 
mentioned,  and  which  are  more  surprising  than  any  of  them. 


CRUSADES.  453 

Whether  these  were,  like  the  others,  undertaken  by  papal 
solicitation,  is  uncertain.  They  were  undertaken  from  Flanders 
and  Germany,  on  the  North  sea,  and  the  crusaders  had  to 
pass  thence  around  Spain  into  the  Mediterranean.  One  of 
these  expeditions  was  undertaken  from  Bremen  and  Lubeck  in 
1190,  and  from  it  arose  the  order  of  Teutonick  knights,  to  be 
after  noticed.  In  1219,  William,  count  of  Holland,  went  by 
the  same  route  to  Palestine,  with  a  powerful  fleet.  Uniting 
with  Andrew,  king  of  Hungary,  a  successful  attack  was  made 
on  Damietta  in  Egypt,  and  that  place  was  held  from  1209  to 
1221.  An  attempt  to  penetrate  further  into  Egypt,  resulted  in 
a  capture  of  the  crusaders,  who  saved  themselves  by  surrender- 
ing their  possessions,  and  retiring. 

The  crusades  undertaken  by  Louis  IX.  of  France,  better 
known  as  St.  Louis,  were  projects  of  his  own,  and  not  of  either 
of  the  popes.  They  do  not,  therefore,  necessarily  come  under 
notice  in  connection  with  those  of  earlier  date.  They  are, 
however,  usually  mentioned  with  their  precursors,  and  must 
now  be  so,  as  the  effects  on  the  condition  of  Europe  must  he 
deduced  from  the  crusades  collectively.  Considered  merely 
as  belligerent  adventures,  the  crusades  deserve  but  slight  no- 
tice. Considered  in  connection  with  the  permanent  changes 
wrought  in  Europe  during  the  middle  ages,  no  events  record- 
ed in  history,  are  more  instructive.  In  the  sketches  of  France, 
the  crusades  of  Louis  IX.  have  been  mentioned.  It  is  only 
necessary  here  to  remark,  that  the  first  of  them  was  under- 
taken in  1249,  when  Louis  was  thirty  four  years  old,  and  was 
directed  against  Egypt,  that  being  the  seat  of  empire  of  the 
sultan,  who  held  Palestine.  This  expedition  was  not  only 
unavailing,  but  exceedingly  disastrous  to  Louis  and  his  fol- 
loweis.  In  1270,  he  undertook  a  second  crusade,  and  landed 
at  Tunis,  in  Africa,  about  900  miles  in  a  straight  line  from 
Paris,  and  1800  from  Jerusalem.  This  expedition  was  still 
more  unfortunate  than  that  to  Damietta  in  Egypt,  as  Louis 
encountered  not  only  resolute  enemies,  but  pestilence,  of  which 
he  and  many  others  died. 

At  this  time  the  Christians  still  held  several  ports  on  the 
eastern  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  among  others,  Tripoli, 
Tyre,  Berytus,  and  St.  Jean  d'Acre,  or  Ptolemais.  In  1250, 
a  revolution  occurred  in  Egypt.  The  empire  of  the  Turks, 
(of  which  Saladin  was  the  head,)  was  conquered  by  the 
Mamalnkes,  a  people  originally  introduced  from  the  East  into 
Egypt  as  slaves.  The  Mamalukes  were  no  less  hostile  to  the 
Christians  than  the  Turks  had  been.     With  this  new  enemy 


454  EFFECTS    OF    CRUSADES. 

the  Christians  contended  for  several  years,  but  were  compelled 
to  surrender  one  place  after  another.  The  crusading  spirit 
was  exhausted  in  Europe;  or  rather,  the  power  of  the  popes 
was  so  enfeebled,  that  the  people  of  Europe  could  no  longer  be 
persuaded,  seduced,  nor  terrified  into  sacrifices  of  time,  proper- 
ty, and  life,  in  the  vain  attempt  to  conquer  Palestine.  The 
year  1291  ended  the  crusades,  by  the  capture  of  Ptolemais  by 
the  Mamalukes. 


CHAPTER   LXTI. 


EFFECTS    OF   THE    CRUSADES. 


Increase  of  papal  power — Effect  on  temporal  power — Free  cities — Effect  on 
agricultural  life — Chivalry — Nobility — Orders  of  knighthood — On  com- 
merce— Silk — Sugar — Effect  on  social  character — Evils  of  crusades. 

All  writers,  who  have  treated  of  the  middle  ages,  have 
been  led  to  consider  the  effects  of  the  crusades.  There  is  not, 
in  all  respects,  an  accordance  of  opinion  among  these  writers. 
The  difference  appears  to  be  in  the  degree  of  benefit,  or  dis- 
advantage, which  the  west  of  Europe  experienced  from  these 
adventures  in  the  East. 

Most  of  these  authors  have  treated  of  the  crusades  in  con- 
nection with  the  great  train  of  events.  Professor  Heeren  has 
treated  the  subject  by  itself.  His  research  was  profound,  and 
probably  his  conclusions  would  not  be  controverted  by  any  of 
his  predecessors. 

The  popes  who  were  the  promoters  of  the  crusades  to  ac- 
complish their  own  purposes,  are  not  to  be  supposed  to  have 
extended  their  plans  through  the  long  series  of  years  in  which 
these  enterprises  were  carried  on.  No  other  discernment  can 
be  attributed  to  them,  than  the  adroit  and  successful  use  of 
events,  as  they  occurred ;  nor  any  other  merit  (such  they  con- 
sidered it)  than  a  faithful  perseverance  in  the  original  design  of 
subjecting  the  spiritual  and  temporal  power  to  their  own  do- 
minion. They  were  not  gifted  beyond  other  able  men,  with 
penetration  into  consequences  ;  and,  like  the  wisest  who  have 
ever  appeared,  they  prepared  in  the  long  course,  for  results  of 
which  they  had  no  conception. 

A  war  for  the  recovery  of  the  holy  sepulchre,  was  necessari- 
ly a  war  of  the  holy  see.     The  popes  were  thereby  placed  at 


EFFECTS    OF    CRUSADES.  455 

the  head  of  all  military  force  employed  in  this  war.  They  did 
not  march  at  the  head  of  armies,  but  they  were  always  repre- 
sented by  legates.  They  exercised  their  dispensing  and  enabling 
powers  over  all  who  engaged  in  the  war.  Every  warrior, 
from  highest  to  lowest,  was  exempted  from  all  temporal  power, 
forgiven  as  to  all  transgressions  and  crimes,  armed  with  indul- 
gence for  all  future  ones ;  and  were  thus  assured  (like  the  Ma- 
homedans  in  fighting  for  the  promotion  of  their  creed,)  of  a 
blessed  immortality.  Every  one  who  assumed  the  cross  be- 
came entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  an  ecclesiastic.  Ability 
to  resist  the  despotism  of  the  church  was  diminished  in  many 
ways.  Most  of  the  princes  and  nobles  who  took  the  cross, 
were  obliged  to  sell  or  mortgage  their  property.  The  monas- 
teries, and  churches,  and  the  Jews,  possessed  most  of  the  mon- 
ey of  Europe.  The  two  former  were  immensely  enriched, 
and  the  Jews  could  be  afterwards  plundered  at  leisure.  The 
acquisitions  of  ecclesiastics  were,  in  fact,  papal  acquisitions,  for 
means  were  found,  as  power  strengthened,  to  subject  them  to 
contributions.  The  physical  force  drawn  away  to  the  east  was 
a  diminution  of  means  to  contend  with  papal  arrogance.  It  is 
not  to  be  denied  that  the  crusades  extended  the  power  of  the 
popes  over  ecclesiastics,  and  over  the  temporal  governments  of 
Europe,  considered  merely  as  expeditions  to  Palestine.  Out 
of  these  arose  another  mode  of  papal  aggrandizement :  the 
crusades  in  Europe,  and  against  European  Christians,  whom 
the  popes  saw  fit  to  consider  as  heretics.  In  every  part  of  Eu- 
rope where  any  sects  arose  which  the  popes  considered  heret- 
ical, crusades  were  preached  against  them.  Every  sovereign 
prince  who  incurred  the  papal  displeasure  was  subjected  to  the 
same  visitation.  This  was  the  case  with  king  John,  of  Eng- 
land, whose  kingdom  was  given  to  Philip  of  France.  The  in- 
quisition at  length  arose  out  of  the  crusades  against  the  Albi- 
genses,  in  the  south  of  France. 

The  effects  as  to  temporal  power  were  not  always  the  same. 
The  imperial  authority  in  Germany  was  humbled  and  almost 
destroyed ;  while  the  royal  authority  in  France  acquired 
strength.  Several  of  the  French  dukes  and  counts,  who  were 
feudal  sovereigns,  perished  in  the  east,  and  their  dominions 
were  obtained  by  the  crown.  Hence  a  power  arose  in  France, 
in  the  time  of  Philip  the  Fair,  and  Boniface  VIII.,  ('303,) 
which  humbled  the  pontificate.  In  that  age,  it  was  a  benefit 
to  the  social  communities  to  abstract  from  them  their  daring, 
turbulent  members,  whose  principal  employment  at  home  was 
to  excite  commotions,  or  to  lend  themselves  to  chiefs  by  whom 


456  EFFECTS    OF    CRUSADES. 

commotions  were  excited.  Such  members  of  society  readily- 
engaged  in  these  adventurous  expeditions  from  various  motives, 
and  very  few  of  them  returned  to  Europe.  It  was  also  a  ben- 
efit, especially  in  France,  to  concentrate  power  in  kings,  and 
to  enable  them  to  suppress  the  rebellions,  and  the  private  wars 
of  the  feudal  lords. 

The  most  permanent  benefit  which  arose  to  Europe  from 
the  crusades,  was  the  establishment  of  free  cities.  This  was 
an  incidental,  not  a  direct  consequence.  So  many  feudal  lords 
being  withdrawn  to  the  east,  many  towns  disengaged  them- 
selves from  vassalage  to  these  lords,  and  obtained  charters  from 
royal  authority,  conferring  important  privileges.  Among  these 
may  be  enumerated,  (Heeren,  p.  236,)  the  guaranty  of  per- 
sonal liberty  to  citizens — the  right  of  acquiring  and  disposing 
of  property — freedom  from  arbitrary  taxation — the  right  of 
choosing  their  own  judges  and  magistrates;  and,  finally,  the 
power  of  raising  and  supporting  their  own  military  force,  for 
their  own  defence.  Out  of  these  city  establishments  arose 
what  is  called  the  third  estate,  or  popular  representation,  by 
which  kings  obtained  a  balance  against  the  powrer  of  feudal 
lords;  and  the  final  dissolution  of  the  feudal  system.  The  no- 
bles became  subjects — the  cities  became  industrious  and  com- 
mercial, and,  consequently,  rich  ;  riches  so  gained,  inspired  sen- 
timents of  independence  and  liberty.  At  the  close  of  the  cru- 
sades, Europe  had  acquired  (in  royal  governments)  the  com- 
mencement of  the  balance  of  internal  powers — a  sovereign, 
subjected  nobles,  and  a  people,  who  were  politically  acknowl- 
edged as  such. 

When  the  crusades  began,  the  mass  of  the  people  of  Europe 
were  vassals,  or  slaves.  It  does  not  appear  that  any  beneficial 
consequence  resulted  to  them,  except  in  these  respects  :  the  in- 
cessant and  barbarous  warfare  between  the  feudal  lords,  was 
peculiarly  afflictive  to  the  poor  cultivators  of  the  soil.  Their 
huts  were  pillaged,  and  their  cattle  driven  away,  their  fields 
ravaged,  and  themselves  massacred,  from  one  end  of  Christian 
Europe  to  the  other.  The  departure  of  these  belligerent  lords 
was  a  grateful  relief  to  this  poor  class.  A  contemporaneous 
historian  says,  that  the  truce  of  God  did  not  produce  such  a 
calm  as  followed  the  departure  of  the  crusaders.  "  At  once, 
the  whole  earth  seemed  to  be  tranquillized." 

Chivalry.  Gibbon  says  (chap.  57.)  that  "  the.  crusades  were, 
at  once,  an  effect  and  a  cause  of  this  memorable  institution." 
He  may  have  intended  to  be  understood,  that  chivalry  existed 
before  the  crusades,  and  that  they  had  an  important  effect  on  its 


EFFECTS    OF    CRUSADES.  457 

spirit  and  character.  Chivalry  was  well  known  before  the 
crusades  began,  and  the  theory  and  practice  of  knighthood  had 
been  established  by  a  system  of  ceremonies  and  laws.  "  The 
brave  Roland,"  immortalized  in  Romance,  accompanied  Char- 
lemagne into  Spain  in  the  year  778;  and  when  returning  was 
slain  at  Roucevalles,  in  Navarre.  It  is  probable  that  knight- 
hood was  borrowed  from  the  Romans,  in  the  north  of  Europe; 
and  may  be  a  very  different  thing,  in  its  origin,  from  chivalry. 
The  origin  of  chivalry  is  an  unsettled  point;  and  perhaps  the 
disagreement  among  those  who  have  treated  of  it  may  have 
arisen  from  considering  knighthood  and  chivalry  to  be  the 
same  institution.  There  were  mounted  warriors,  who  followed 
their  chiefs  from  the  German  forest,  and  who  became  knights. 
But  it  is  improbable  that  these  barbarians  could  have  been  fash- 
ioned by  any  sentiments  or  discipline,  originating  among  them- 
selves, into  the  gallant,  magnanimous,  and  honorable  knights 
of  chivalry.  Some  writers  derive  this  institution  from  the 
three  elements  attributed  to  the  Germans,  war,  religion,  and 
respect  for  women.  In  the  Americana  Encyclopaedia,  the  prin- 
cipal editor  (it  is  supposed)  presents  what  he  considers  may  be 
"  new  views"  of  chivalry.  He  makes  the  foundation  to  be 
religion  and  the  Teutonic  character.  These  views  are  entitled 
to  great  respect.  So  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  comprehend 
the  character  of  war  among  the  Germans,  there  was  little  of 
chivalry  in  it;  even  down  to  the  time  of  .Charlemagne.  The 
Germans  were  distinguished  from  all  other  people  in  Europe, 
when  chivalry  is  supposed  to  have  begun,  if  their  religion 
was  much  superior  to  ignorant  superstition.  Without  derogat- 
ing from  the  high  virtues  ascribed  to  German  females,  we  dis- 
cern no  such  veneration  for  them  in  the  other  sex,  as  could 
have  been  the  foundation  for  that  exalted  reverence  which  is  a 
primary  element  in  chivalry.  The  evidence  of  what  knight- 
hood was,  in  Germany,  before  the  crusades,  would  not  lead  one 
to  consider  that  rank  and  chivalry  the  same.  The  evidence 
that  chivalry  existed  in  the  south  of  France,  between  the  time 
of  the  Moorish  invasion  of  Spain,  and  the  crusades,  is  conclu- 
sive. It  is  probable  that  it  passed  thence  into  the  north  of 
France,  and  into  Germany.  It  is  probable,  also,  that  it  was 
engrafted  on  knighthood,  previously  existing,  and  imparted  to 
knighthood  its  own  spirit.  It  is  admitted  by  most  writers  who 
have  treated  of  chivalry,  that  it  was  known  among  the  Moors, 
who  possessed,  and  who  civilized  Spain  ;  that  the  Moors  (who 
were  mostly  Arabians,)  brought  with  them  the  manners  and  in- 
stitutions of  the  Arabians,  who  dwelt  on  the  banks  of  the  Eu- 
39 


458  EFFECTS    OF    CRUSADES. 

phrates,  and  Tigris.  In  the  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  centuries, 
these  Arabians  were  a  civilized,  a  refined,  and  a  learned  people. 
They  had  penetrated  into  central  India.  Institutions  strongly 
resembling  both  chivalry  and  the  feudal  system,  are  known  to 
have  existed  there,  from  a  time  immemorial,  and  do  still  exist 
there,  unless  abolished  by  English  conquerors.  In  the  work 
entitled  "  Annals  and  Antiquities  of  Rajast'han,  or  the  Central 
and  Western  Rajpoot  States  of  India,"  by  colonel  James  Tod, 
there  are  satisfactory  reasons  for  the  opinion,  that  the  spirit  of 
chivalry  was  well  known  to  the  people  whom  he  describes. 
The  veneration  of  woman  there  felt,  is  precisely  that  which  is 
essential  in  chivalry.  The  feudal  system  of  India  is  almost 
identical  with  that  of  Europe.  [Tod,  vol.  1.  pp.  128—193.] 
The  original  Teutonic  emigrants  from  Asia  may  have  brought 
both  feudalism  and  chivalry  with  them.  If  this  was  so,  the 
latter  is  not  supposed  to  have  been  practised,  or  manifested  in 
Germany,  until  it  was  in  full  vigor,  in  the  south  of  France. 
Perhaps  it  is  not  now  more  than  a  question  of  curiosity,  wheth- 
er the  Germans  originated  chivalry,  or  were  imitators  of  the 
Troubadours.  This,  however,  admits  of  no  dispute,  that  the 
state  of  Society  was  such  as  to  make  the  principles  and  the 
practice  of  chivalry,  of  the  highest  importance.  If  the  Ara- 
bians caught  the  spirit  of  chivalry  in  India,  and  transferred  it  to 
the  west — if  the  Arabians  of  Spain  enabled  the  Troubadours 
to  copy  them — if  the.north  of  Europe  took  their  lessons  from 
the  Troubadours,  the  Arabians  were  the  original  benefactors. 
From  them  proceeded  a  reforming  and  chastening  power  over 
social  abuses,  which  no  religious  restraint,  or  civil  authority, 
could  remedy. 

No  satisfactory  reason  is  perceived  why  the  profession  of 
arms  should  have  been  dignified,  and  even  made  sacred,  by  an 
association  with  religion,  before  the  holy  wars.  After  they 
began,  all  measures  were  taken  to  impart  to  them,  and  to  all 
who  engaged  in  them,  a  sacred  character.  The  ceremonies 
observed  in  qualifying  a  knight  for  his  profession,  were  milita- 
ry and  religious,  the  latter  being  by  far  the  most  impressive 
part  of  the  initiation.  A  class  of  men  originally  of  noble 
blood,  and  who  had  bound  themselves  by  very  solemn  oaths, 
to  piety,  bravery,  and  Christian  duties,  and  who  added  to 
these  obligations,  that  of  deserving  the  commendation  of  the 
other  sex  by  their  courtesy  and  magnanimity, — met  in  the  east, 
to  accomplish  the  same  object.  It  is  probable  that  they  acted 
under  the  full  influence  of  their  various  obligations,  and  form- 
ed a  school  of  discipline  for  themselves,  by  honorable  rivalry. 


EFFECTS    OF    CRUSADES.  459 

Those  who  did  not  return  personally,  hoped  that  their  renown 
would  represent  them.  Those  who  survived,  came  home,  to 
enjoy  the  admiration  which  the  world  has  always  awarded  to 
those  who  have  been  in  glorious  peril ;  and  also  with  the  hon- 
or of  having  contended  against  infidels,  for  the  possession  of 
the  holy  sepulchre.  Thus  the  crusades  undoubtedly  contribut- 
ed essentially  to  establish  that  influence  which  chivalry  long 
exercised  over  the  manners,  and  even  the  morals,  of  society — 
an  influence  not  yet  lost,  though  greatly  changed  in  its  char- 
acter.* 

Heroic  chivalry  cannot  be  traced  below  the  time  when  the 
nations  of  Europe  engaged  in  the  religious  controversies  of  the 
reformation,  early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  ( 1520.)  From  that 
time  to  the  French  revolution,  the  effects  of  chivalry  were  seen 
in  the  opinions,  feelings,  and  deportment  of  all  Europeans, 
who  aspired  to  the  distinction  of  being  gentlemen..  Birth, 
dress,  manner,  accomplishments,  politeness,  veracity,  a  delicate 
sense  of  honor,  a  promptness  to  avenge  every  offensive  dis- 
respect for  these  pretensions,  were  among  the  marks  which 
chivalry  had  stamped  on  society.  These  marks  have  been 
gradually  disappearing  in  the  last  half  century.  The  preten- 
sions to  distinction  of  the  present  age  have  as  little  similitude 
to  the  gentility  of  the  two  last  centuries  as  that  gentility  had  to 
chivalry  in  its  highest  glory.  The  causes  are  obvious,  and  are 
found  in  the  natural  progress  of  human  society.  (In  Hallam's 
History  of  the  Middle  Ages,  in  part  II.  of  chap.  IX.,  or  con- 
cluding part  of  the  work,  will  be  found  that  author's  views  of 
chivalry.) 

It  is  difficult  to  fix  the  time  when  nobility  arose  in  Europe. 
Among  those  who  called  themselves  noble  in  Venice,  there 
were  some  who  traced  their  descent  from  the  seventh  century. 
Without  regarding  the  name,  the  fact  of  nobility,  or  the  dis- 
tinction of  families,  must  have  been  as  early  as  the  partition 
of  conquered  lands,  after  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire ;  cer- 
tainly as  early  as  fiefs  and  offices  became  hereditary.  The 
names  of  dukes,  counts,  earls,  and  marquisses,  were  derived 
from  offices ;  and  the  title  of  baron  from  the  tenure  of  great 
landed  estates.     But  down  to  the  time  of  the  crusades,  the  dis- 

*  John  Baptist  de  la  Curne  de  St.  Pelaye,  a  Frenchman,  born  in  1697, 
(died  1781,  of  grief,  for  loss  of  twin  brother,)  spent  most  of  his  long  life 
in  collecting  the  materials,  and  in  writing  memoirs,  on  chivalry.  His 
MSS.  formed  100  folio  volumes.  P.  C  X.  Millot  wrote  a  literary  his- 
tory of  the  Troubadours  from  La  C time's  collections.  See  vol.  xx.  of 
the  French  Academy  of  inscriptions. 


460  EFFECTS    OF    CRUSADES. 

tinction  of  family  names,  and  of  coats  of  arms,  were  unknown. 
The  intercourse  among  nations  had  been  very  limited.  Wars 
had  rarely  extended  beyond  the  confines  of  kingdoms,  and 
and  those  who  passed  from  one  country  to  another  were  seldom 
any  other  than  itinerant  merchants,  pilgrims,  or  ecclesiastics. 
The  holy  wars  introduced  nations  to  each  other,  and  brought 
individuals  into  close  comparison,  and  rivalry  in  arms.  Ac- 
cording to  some  accounts,  the  number  of  armed  men  who  had 
assembled  (in  1097)  on  the  plains  of  Bythinia,  in  Asia  Minor, 
were  600,000;  and  that  100,000  were  mounted  and  in  armor. 
Gibbon  discredits  these  accounts,  (chap  lviii.)  Whatever  the 
number  may  have  been,  they  were  composed  of  different  na- 
tions, and  many  of  them  were  clad  in  complete  armor,  and 
could  not  be  distinguished  from  each  other,  without  some  ex- 
terior mark.  This  mark  was  painted  or  engraved  on  the  shield, 
at  first,  merely  a  particular  color;  and  afterwards  all  that  fan- 
cy could  invent;  as  flowers,  fruits,  animals,  and  allegorical  ex- 
pressions of  qualities,  affections,  or  favors.  Hitherto,  none  oth- 
er than  baptismal  names  were  in  use.  The  necessity  of  further 
distinction  among  this  armed  multitude,  led  to  surnames,  deriv- 
ed from  places  of  residence,  personal  qualities,  professions,  em- 
ployments, and  similar  characteristics.  These  distinctions  on 
shields  became  the  emblems  of  heraldry,  and  the  foundation  of 
that  science ;  and  were  also  proofs  of  nobility.  The  names 
became  family  names,  and,  in  the  long  lapse  of  time,  have  been 
fashioned  into  the  endless  variety  which  are  now  known. 
[Heeren's  Essai,  p.  210-1 

Tournaments  are  supposed  to  have  been  known,  and  to  have 
been  held  and  regulated  by  established  rules,  before  the  time 
of  the  crusades.  These  exciting  movements  had  an  influence 
on  tournaments,  and  imparted  to  them  a  more  solemn  and  a 
more  military  character.  There  were  certain  indispensable 
qualifications  for  being  received  as  a  competitor  for  honors, 
ever,  in  the  presence  of  princes,  and  rewarded  by  the  approba- 
tion of  noble  and  princely  females.  No  one,  who  could  not 
prove  a  descent  from  noble  ancestors,  could  be  allowed  to  prove 
his  skill  in  a  tournament.  This  institution  began  in  France; 
and  was  carried  thence  into  other  countries.  An  accident  in 
France  tended  to  bring  disrepute  on  these  trials  of  skill.  In 
1559,  Henry  II.,  king  of  France,  was  killed  in  a  tournament. 
After  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  these  meetings  were 
discontinued.  The  tournament  was  kept  up  more  than  four 
centuries,  in  France  and  Germany,  and  had  a  decided  influence 
in  softening  and  meliorating  manners.     Though  there  are 


EFFECTS    OF    CRUSADES.  461 

very  good  accounts  of  the  preparations,  and  ceremonies,  and 
consequences  of  tournaments,  it  is  very  difficult  to  form,  at  this 
distance  of  time,  any  satisfactory  opinion  of  their  real  influence 
on  society.  (See  History  of  Chivalry  by  Charles  Mills,  first 
published  in  1825.) 

Orders  of  knighthood,  which  were  both  religious  and  mili- 
tary, arose  out  of  the  crusades.  They  are  a  very  striking  ex- 
ample of  the  unforeseen  effect  of  institutions  which  appear  to 
be  of  little  importance  in  their  origin.  Individuals  in  the  east 
were  formed  into  societies  to  defend  their  newly  acquired  ter- 
ritories, protect  pilgrims,  and  take  care  of  the  sick.  They  ac- 
quired great  riches,  and  a  great  influence  in  affairs ;  and  were 
held  together  long  after  the  crusades  ended.  They  were  sub- 
ject to  no  temporal  sovereign ;  governed  themselves  by  their 
own  laws,  and  acknowledged  no  chief,  or  head,  but  the  popes. 

The  earliest  and  the  most  distinguished  of  these  orders  was 
that  of  the  knights  of  St.  John,  of  Jerusalem  ;  afterwards  call- 
ed the  knights  of  Malta.  The  merchants  of  Amalfi,  (Italy, 
25  miles  S.  E.  of  Naples,)  built  a  church,  a  monastery  and 
hospital  at  Jerusalem,  before  the  crusades,  dedicated  to  St.  John. 
Out  of  these  arose  the  order  of  St.  John.  In  1114,  pope  Pas- 
call  II.  gave  power  to  the  Hospitalers  to  choose  a  superior.  In 
1120  Calixtus  II.  divided  the  fraternity  into  three  classes,  the 
warriors  the  priests,  and  the  superintendents  of  the  sick.  The 
warriors,  took  the  name  of  knights  of  the  hospital  of  St.  John, 
of  Jerusalem.  Their  riches  were  derived  from  the  voluntary 
gifts  of  pilgrims,  and  from  the  devout,  in  all  Europe. 

When  this  order  of  St.  John  was  expelled  from  Palestine,  by 
the  Egyptian  Mamelukes,  at  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century 
(1291,)  they  established  themselves  at  Cyprus;  but  were  ex- 
pelled from  thence.  In  1309  they  conquered  the  Island  of 
Rhodes,  and  held  it  till  1522,  when  they  were  driven  from 
thence  by  sultan  Soliman  II.  Their  residence  at  Rhodes  gave 
them  the  name  of  knights  of  Rhodes.  This  expulsion  distrib- 
uted them  among  several  places.  In  1530  they  were  again 
collected  at  Malta,  by  a  gift  to  the  order  of  that  island  by 
Charles  V.,  emperor.  The  knights  of  St.  John  held  great  es- 
tates in  various  parts  of  Europe,  and  kept  up  a  respectable 
military  force.  They  existed,  as  an  order,  nearly  700  years. 
They  disappeared  in  the  turmoil  of  the  French  revolution. 

The  order  of  knights  templar  was  instituted  by  Frenchmen, 

at  Jerusalem,  in  1120,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  keeping  the 

roads  open  for  pilgrims.     The  king  Baudoin,  (or  Baldwin,) 

lodged  them  in  his  palace,  which  was  near  the  temple,  whence 

39* 


462  EFFECTS    OF    CRUSADES. 

their  name.  This  order  acquired  immense  riches,  in  different 
parts  of  Europe,  especially  in  France;  and  participated  in  pass- 
ing events,  with  powerful  influence.  The  order  was  suppress- 
ed by  Philip  the  Fair,  of  France,  between  the  years  1307  and 
1310.  The  circumstances  attending  the  suppression  have  been 
noticed  in  the  sketches  of  France.  The  templars  were  charged 
with  high  crimes,  to  justify  their  extinction  as  an  order.  Able 
writers  have  appeared  on  both  sides.  Heeren  (who  wrote  in 
1807)  refers  to  the  controversy,  but  does  not  assume  to  pro- 
nounce.    [Essai,  p.  221.] 

The  order  of  Teutonick  knights,  of  Jerusalem,  was  founded 
in  1 192,  about  a  century  after  the  crusades  began.  The  name 
indicates  the  origin  of  the  order.  They  retired  from  Palestine 
to  the  north  of  Europe,  and,  with  permission  of  the  pope,  con- 
quered the  country  along  the  Baltic  sea,  which  is  now  part  of 
Prussia.     The  seat  of  this  order  was  afterwards  in  Franconia. 

These  fraternities,  at  once  military,  religious,  noble,  and  rich, 
had  a  powerful  command  in  society,  and  were  able  to  keep 
their  numbers  unimpaired.  The  younger  sons  of  noble  fami- 
lies, were  honorably  provided  for,  when  they  could  obtain  the 
favor  of  being  received  as  members.  Founded  originally  un- 
der the  patronage  of  the  holy  see,  celibacy  was  among  the 
number  of  their  vows,  as  were  many  other  obligations,  of  like 
solemnity,  and  equal  force. 

The  examples  at  Jerusalem  led  to  the  establishment  of  sev- 
eral orders  in  Europe,  and  especially  in  Spain,  where  a  war 
was  going  on  against  Moorish  infidels.  In  1 156  appeared  the 
knights  of  Calatrava;  in  1160,  the  knights  of  St.  James  de 
Compostella.  Among  other  orders  that  of  Christ  was  founded 
in  Portugal,  in  1319,  of  which  the  king  was  grand  master. 
This  order  is  said  to  have  been  enriched  by  the  confiscated 
property  of  the  templars,  who  were  destroyed  about  that  time. 
The  order  of  the  garter  was  founded  in  1349,  by  Edward  III., 
of  England,  while  at  Calais.  No  religious  enthusiasm  is 
charged  upon  this  order,  though  it  has  also  the  name  of  St. 
George.  The  Spanish  and  Portuguese  orders  of  knighthood 
came  under  the  dominion  of  the  respective  kings,  in  the  six- 
teenth century.  Their  riches  were  applied  to  promote  the  pur- 
poses of  these  kings.  In  1550,  Henry  III.,  of  Portugal,  sur- 
named  the  Navigator,  is  said  to  have  used  the  riches  of  the 
order  of  Christ,  in  carrying  on  his  exploring  expeditions. 

The  effect  of  the  crusades  on  commerce,  and  industry.  Pro- 
ductions of  India  and  China,  and  other  parts  of  Asia,  were 
brought  to  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  even  in  the  days 


EFFECTS    OF    CRUSADES.  463 

of  Solomon.  Some  of  these  productions  were  known  in  the 
west  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  (800.)  Silk  was  then  an 
article  of  dress.  At  that  time,  and  for  centuries  afterwards,  the 
people  of  the  west  had  nothing  to  give  in  exchange  for  eastern 
products,  nor  were  they  skilled  in  the  industrious  arts.  The 
frequency  of  intercourse  between  the  west  and  the  east,  while 
the  two  centuries  of  warfare  were  passing,  greatly  extended 
commercial  relations,  introduced  new  articles  of  commerce,  and 
enabled  the  people  of  the  west  to  develope  their  own  resources 
and  powers.  In  this  very  comprehensive  subject  it  will  be 
sufficient  for  the  present  purpose  to  present  a  very  general  out- 
line. 

In  showing  why  commerce  did  not  flourish  in  Rome,  under 
the  dominion  of  the  popes,  nor  in  Constantinople,  under  the 
emperors,  professor  Heeren  says: — "  Commerce  flourishes  only 
with  liberty,  and  the  spirit  of  republicanism  :  this  is  a  truth 
proved  by  all  history.11  The  republics  of  Italy  availed  them- 
selves of  the  advantages  which  the  new  relations  with  the  east 
had  brought  to  view.  The  three  most  distinguished  among 
these  were  Venice,  Pisa,  and  Genoa;  each  of  which  had  com- 
mercial establishments  in  the  cities  and  ports  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  of  the  waters  connected  with  that  sea.  These  three 
republics  were  rivals  and  enemies.  Genoa  drove  Pisa  from 
the  sea  in  August,  1284.  Venice  nearly  destroyed  the  mari- 
time power  of  Genoa,  in  1382.  Before  the  end  of  the  next 
century  the  Portuguese  discoveries  prepared  the  way  for  the 
commercial  overthrow  of  Venice.  Besides  these  republics, 
commerce  was  carried  on  from  ports  in  Spain,  and  in  France, 
with  the  east.  The  Catalonians,  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Spain, 
have  the  honor  of  presenting  the  earliest  code  of  maritime  law, 
under  the  name  of  Consolato  del  Mar*  This  important  event 
is  supposed  to  have  occurred  within  the  first  half  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  because  it  was  generally  known  in  the  year 
1255.  In  that  year,  the  Venitians,  established  at  Constanti- 
nople, held  a  meeting  in  the  church  of  St.  Sophia,  to  consider 
this  code  of  laws.  It  had  been  translated  from  the  Spanish  in- 
to Italian,  and  was  adopted  by  that  meeting,  and  became  a 
commercial  law  for  the  Mediterranean  sea.  [Heeren,  p.  376.] 

*  Mr.  Hallam  suggests  that  the  code  known  as  the  Consolato  del  Mar, 
was  the  ancient  Rkodianl&w  of  the  Sea  ;  that  it  had  been  preserved  by 
the  Roman  emperors,  and  only  re-appeared,  about  the  middle  of  the  thir- 
teenth century.    [Mid.  Ages,  chap  ix.  part  II.] 

The  Article  VI.,  in  the  Foreign  Quarterly  Review,  (London,)  No. 
XXXVII.,  for  April,  1837,  contains  a  learned  essay  on  the  origin  of  the 
ancient  maritime  codes  of  law. 


■  % 

464  EFFECTS    OF    CRUSADES. 

The  merchandise  which  was  brought  to  the  seaports  of 
Italy,  was  carried  thence  across  the  Alps.  From  about  1261, 
this  commerce  became  important.  Before  that  time,  and  es- 
pecially from  1204,  when  the  crusaders  took  Constantinople, 
till  they  were  expelled,  fifty-seven  years  afterwards,  the  com- 
merce between  that  city  and  the  west,  was  along  the  Danube. 
Vienna  and  Ratisbon  grew  up  under  that  commerce.  After 
1261,  Augsburg  and  Nuremburg  became  the  great  commer- 
cial cities  of  Germany,  through  which  merchandise  passed  to 
the  great  cities  along  the  Rhine.  Augsburg  is  about  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  miles  south-east  of  Mentz,  and  Nuremburg 
is  about  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  east  by  south  from  Mentz, 
and  is  nearly  north  from  Augsburg,  seventy  miles.  Heeren, 
speaking  of  these  two  cities,  says, — "  A  glorious  memory 
accompanies  the  days  of  their  prosperity.  Their  immense 
riches  were  employed  to  cultivate,  within  their  walls,  the  sci- 
ences and  the  arts,  of  which  the  sacred  fire  is  not  extinguish- 
ed, in  their  decline  and  decay." 

Western  Europe  is  indebted  to  the  crusades  for  the  manu- 
factory of  silks.  In  1148,  Roger  II.,  king  of  Sicily,  (one  of 
the  Norman  race,  settled  in  Italy,)  took  Corinth,  Thebes,  and 
Athens  from  the  Greek  emperor.  It  is  said  that  eggs  of  the 
silk-worm  were  brought  to  Constantinople  in  the  time  of  Jus- 
tinian, and  that  the  manufacture  of  silk  was  well  understood  in 
what  is  now  called  the  Morea,  the  ancient  Peloponnessus. 
Roger  transferred  many  workmen  to  Sicily,  and  the  manufac- 
ture of  that  article  became  very  successful.  Thence  the  art  of 
silk-making  went  to  Lucca,  Florence,  Venice,  Mantua,  Milan, 
and  to  the  cities  of  the  south  of  France.  The  several  arts  of 
weaving,  dying,  embroidering,  were  undoubtedly  improved  by 
Italian  and  French  ingenuity.  [See  chapter  liii.  of  Gibbon's 
Decline  and  Fall  of  Roman  Empire.] 

The  sugar-cane,  in  the  west,  is  another  acquisition  from  the 
crusades.  The  Christians  first  became  acquainted  with  it  in 
the  environs  of  Tripoli  in  Syria.  It  had  become  known  and 
was  cultivated  in  Sicily  about  the  time  that  silk  was  introduced 
there,  (1148.)  From  Sicily  the  sugar-cane  was  carried  to 
Madeira,  and  from  thence  to  America.  From  being  an  article 
of  luxury,  it  became  one  of  necessity  with  most  classes. 

The  most  material  benefits  which  the  nations  of  western 
Europe  derived  from  the  crusades  may  be  comprised  under 
several  heads :  1.  The  extension  of  geographical  knowledge. 
2.  The  knowledge  of  natural  productions,  and  articles  of  com- 
merce before  unknown.     3.  Mutual  advancement  among  the 


0 

CHANGES    IN    SOCIETY.  465 

most  important  nations  in  knowledge  of  each  other.  4.  The 
breaking  up  of  the  ancient  feudal  habits  and  associations,  and 
opening  the  way  to  new  employments.  5.  The  profitable  and 
civilizing  exercise  of  industrious  powers.  6  The  perception 
of  the  truth,  (or  at  least  of  others  which  might  conduct  to  it.) 
It  is  not  a  law  of  the  Creator,  nor  necessarily  a  law  of  soci- 
ety, that  men  shall  be  divided  into  masters  and  slaves,  despots 
and  subjects. 

There  were,  on  the  other  hand,  very  serious  evils  in  the 
train  of  the  crusades.  Among  many  that  might  be  mentioned, 
several  diseases,  hardly  known  before  that  time  in  Europe, 
were  introduced.  The  plague,  leprosy,  and  other  malignant 
maladies  were  brought  to  the  west  by  the  return  of  vessels, 
armies,  and  bands  of  pilgrims.  These  diseases,  known  at  all 
times  in  the  east,  were  promoted  in  quality  and  virulence,  by 
the  gathering  of  such  multitudes,  the  absence  of  all  salutary 
regulations;  but  more  by  filthiness,  the  use  of  baths  in  common, 
and  by  exceeding  licentiousness. 

The  people  of  the  west  soon  found  themselves  obliged  to 
resort  to  remedies  and  preventives.  Houses,  solitary  and  dis- 
tant from  human  habitations,  were  provided  to  receive  the 
diseased,  who  were  compelled  to  retire  thither.  About  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  there  were  2000  hospitals  in 
France.  The  knights  of  St.  John  had,  in  different  countries, 
1900  of  their  own.  These  maladies  did  not  disappear  by 
curative  or  scientific  means.  They  were  extirpated,  (most 
commonly  with  the  patients  themselves,)  by  preventing  con- 
tagion and  infection;  and  because  they  had  been  brought  to 
climates  where  they  would  not  naturally  arise,  or  be  propagat- 
ed by  manners,  or  modes  of  life. 


CHAPTER  LXIII. 

RETROSPECT    OP    THE    FIVE    CENTURIES    FROM    1000   TO   1500. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  period  there  were  three  principal 
divisions  of  society:  1.  The  feudal  lords,  of  various  grades. 
2.  The  clergy,  and  the  religious  orders.  3.  The  mass  of  in- 
habitants, greatly  exceeding  in  numbers  the  two  first  divisions. 
These  inhabitants,  with  few  exceptions,  were  vassals  or  serfs 
of  the  lords  or  of  the  clergy,  distinguished  by  classes,  with 


466  CHANGES    IN    SOCIETY. 

varied  obligations  and  privileges.  The  feudal  lords,  whether 
clergy  or  laity,  exercised  a  rigorous  dominion  over  the  vassals, 
and  the  clergy  maintained  a  despotic  authority,  founded  in  igno- 
rance and  superstition,  over  both  vassals  and  lords.  The  sur- 
face of  the  country  is  supposed  to  have  exhibited  vast  tracts  of 
forest,  few  cultivated  fields,  and  a  small  number  of  cities  or 
towns.  The  right  of  property  in  the  soil  was  vested  in  the 
lords,  the  clergy,  and  the  religious  corporations.  Monasteries, 
nunneries,  churches,  and  fortified  dwelling-places  or  castles, 
were  the  only  buildings  except  the  humble  abodes  of  the  vas- 
sals. There  have  been  frequent  occasions  to  mention,  in  pre- 
ceding pages,  the  employments  incident  to  society  so  consti- 
tuted. These  social  and  political  relations  had  been  firmly 
established  for  so  many  ages,  and  such  was  the  universal  igno- 
rance, that  none  of  the  parties  knew  there  had  been,  or  could 
be,  any  better  or  other  relations. 

At  the  end  of  this  period,  (in  1500,)  the  condition  of  society 
had  essentially  changed,  in  many  respects.  The  changes, 
though  generally  advantageous  and  meliorating,  cannot  be 
traced  to  the  designs  of  the  wise,  patriotic,  or  benevolent. 
Consequences,  undesigned  and  unforeseen,  became,  in  their 
turn,  causes  of  still  more  important  consequences.  It  is  more 
reasonable  to  regard  these  events  as  arising  from  overruling 
Providence,  than  from  the  moral  agency  of  man.  If  it  were 
possible  to  trace  out  the  causes  of  the  changes  which  occurred 
in  these  five  centuries,  it  would  be  a  tedious  and  unprofitable 
labor.  If  the  results  can  be  clearly  stated,  and  if  the  promi- 
nent causes  can  be  stated  in  connexion  with  them,  the  present 
purpose  will  be  accomplished. 

At  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  feudal  sovereign- 
ties had  been  nearly  annihilated.  The  right  of  property  in 
many  of  them  had  been  annexed  to  the  crown,  and  where  not 
so,  the  feudal  lords  had  ceased  to  be  sovereigns,  and  had  be- 
come subjects.  Standing  troops,  or  hired  troops,  had  been 
substituted  for  the  tumultuous  armies  .of  vassals.  Vassalage, 
or  slavery,  had  disappeared  in  some  territories,  and  had  been 
much  mitigated,  in  its  evils  and  burthens,  in  others.  Cities 
and  towns  had  arisen  ;  and  some  cities  were  free,  and  entitled, 
by  charter,  to  the  right  of  self-government.  Properly  speak- 
ing, a  people  had  arisen ;  that  is,  a  numerous  class  in  towns 
and  cities,  who  were  considered  as  a  third  estate  in  the  com- 
munity, the  nobles  and  the  clergy  being  the  other  two,  and  the 
king  over  all.  There  is  no  doubt  that  social  life  was  greatly 
meliorated  by  the  manumission  of  vassals  or  slaves.     It  has 


CHANGES    IN    SOCIETY.  467 

been  said  that  the  influences  of  the  Christian  religion  were 
the  principal  cause.  However  this  may  have  been,  there  were 
other  causes.  The  most  effective  one  (in  Sismondi's  opinion) 
was  interest.  The  feudal  landlords  discerned  that  their  estates 
could  be  made  more  productive  and  valuable  to  themselves  if 
cultivated  hy  freemen,  who  shared,  equally  with  landlords,  the 
products  of  labor,  than  if  cultivated  by  slaves,  who  could 
acquire  nothing  for  themselves.  But,  masters  and  slaves  in 
Europe  were  both  of  the  white  race ;  and  slaves  were  often 
the  equals,  if  not  the  superiors,  of  their  masters. 

A  better  knowledge  of  agriculture  had  been  acquired,  especial- 
ly in  Italy  and  the  south  of  France.  Commerce  had  become 
well  understood,  and  the  products  of  all  climes,  and  the  manu- 
factures of  all  countries,  from  the  west  of  Europe  to  the  east 
of  Asia,  were  freely  interchanged.  Industry  devoted  itself  to 
learning  and  to  literature*  Universities  had  been  founded, 
and  thousands  of  students  were  employed,  at  the  same  time,  in 
Italy,  France,  and  England,  and  (though  in  less  proportion) 
in  other  countries.  The  rudeness  and  vulgarity  of  the  tenth 
century,  among  nobles,  had  disappeared  before  the  courtesy, 
gallantry,  and  refinement  of  the  school  of  chivalry.  Woman 
had  taken  her  rank  in  the  order  of  society,  and  was,  perhaps, 
exalted  even  above  it. 

Some  inventions  had  been  wrought  out,  and  some  discov- 
eries made,  which  tended  essentially  to  produce  changes  in 
society.  At  the  head  of  all  should  be  placed  the  art  of  print- 
ing, the  mariner's  compass,  and  the  use  of  gunpowder ;  and 
next,  the  discovery  of  ancient  manuscripts,  and  the  disposition 
and  the  ability  to  study  them,  and  to  find,  in  that  study,  the 
means  of  gratifying  an  honorable  ambition.  The  changes  in 
political  and  social  relations  were,  undoubtedly,  advantageous 
to  society.  But  the  dominion  of  the  church  continued,  not- 
withstanding, and,  during  the  first  four  centuries,  had  become 
stronger  than  ever.  In  the  last  of  these  centuries  (from  1400 
to  1500)  the  church  had  become  too  depraved  and  too  despotic 
for  the  degree  of  intelligence  to  which  society  had  arrived ; 
and  the  elements  were  gathering  for  the  revolution  which 
broke  out  in  the  following  century. 

How  these  changes,  many  of  them  highly  beneficial  to 
society,  were  produced,  is  a  problem  of  very  difficult  solution. 
In  looking  over  the  events  of  these  five  centuries,  it  is  obvious, 
that  consequences  have  flowed  from  many  of  them  which  were 
not  thought  of  in  connexion  with  these  events.  He  who  at 
first  took  an  impression  on  paper  from  an  engraved  block  of 


463  INTELLECTUAL    CHANGES. 

wood ;  he  who  first  guided  his  bark  by  the  magnet,  and  he 
who  first  made  the  application  of  gunpowder  to  project  a  ball, 
had  no  view  to  the  future  consequences,  now  well  known. 
Besides  the  great  and  well-known  causes  of  change,  there 
were  many  others,  unrecorded  and  unmarked,  and  springing 
from  the  evil,  as  well  as  the  worthy  propensities  of  human 
nature.  Example,  imitation,  envy,  rivalry,  emulation,  may  be 
effective  agents  in  changing  the  state  of  society,  though  the 
mode  and  the  measure  of  effectiveness  are  not  found  in  histor- 
ical accounts.  We  have  space  only  to  notice,  very  briefly, 
some  of  the  events  to  which  historians  attribute  the  changes 
which  occurred  in  these  five  centuries. 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  first  light  which  dawned 
on  the  darkness  of  the  middle  ages,  came  from  the  Arabians. 
Respect  for  learning  had  arisen  among  this  people,  at  Bagdad, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris,  early  in  the  eighth  century.  In 
the  year  786,  Haroun  Al  Rashid  began  his  illustrious  reign. 
He  caused  all  the  works  of  the  learned,  and  especially  of  the 
Greeks,  to  be  brought  to  Bagdad,  and  translated  into  Arabic. 
His  court  was  the  resort  of  eminent  men  of  all  nations.  His 
son,  Al  Mamun,  who  reigned  till  832,  was  equally  a  patron  of 
learning  and  of  learned  men.  For  nearly  a  century,  an  extra- 
ordinary intelligence  and  refinement  adorned  the  courts  of 
these  caliphs,  during  the  darkest  period  of  western  Europe. 
This  age  of  intellectual  superiority  continued  at  Bagdad  until 
the  Turks  became  masters,  (936,)  and  then  gradually  declined 
through  the  two  following  centuries.  But,  meanwhile,  the 
treasures  which  had  been  gathered  at  Bagdad  had  been  com- 
municated to  the  west,  and  were  received  and  justly  valued,  se- 
pecially  at  Cordova,  the  seat  of  the  califate  in  Spain.  Germans, 
Frenchmen,  and  Englishmen  attended  the  Arabian  schools 
in  that  country,  and  carried  thence  to  the  north  the  instruction 
imparted  by  their  philosophers  and  teachers.  The  works  of 
Aristotle,  said  to  have  been  translated  by  Avicenna,  at  Bagdad, 
(between  980  and  1036,)  were  taught  at  Cordova  by  Averroes, 
who  flourished  about  1172,  and  were,  probably,  taught  there  a 
century  earlier.  The  philosophy  of  this  Grecian  came  through 
this  channel  to  the  Christian  schools  of  Europe.  It  came, 
however,  in  so  debased  and  corrupted  a  form,  as  to  have  misdi- 
rected the  pursuit  of  knowledge.  Systems  of  learning  arose 
on  this  foundation  which  had  no  connexion  with  knowledge. 
This  learning  was  afterwards  the  principal  subject  of  teaching 
in  the  schools.  When  the  study  of  the  Greek  became  an 
occupation  with  the  scholars  of  Europe,  and  they  could  read 


SCHOLASTIC    SCIENCE.  469 

the  works  of  Aristotle  in  the  original  language,  "  with  what 
surprise  (says  an  eminent  author)  did  they  find,  that  their  con- 
tents were  totally  different  from  what  had  been,  for  centuries, 
taught  in  the  name  of  this  great  man." 

In  the  twelfth  century,  three  causes  are  assigned  for  the 
diligent  attention  then  given  to  intellectual  pursuits:  1.  The 
discovery  and  study  of  the  civil  law.  2.  The  study  of  the 
canon  law.  3.  Ambition  to  become  scholars,  supposed  to  be 
derived  from  the  Arabian  impulse.  However  this  may  be,  it 
is  known  that,  in  1 133,  a  university  was  established  at  Bologna, 
in  upper  Italy,  at  the  foot  of  the  Apennines,  and  that  Irnerius 
lectured  there  on  the  civil  law.  Dr.  Robertson  says,  that  the 
Pandects  were  found  about  this  time,  at  Amalfi.  Hallam 
thinks  this  an  error,  and  that  the  Pandects  were  known  and 
studied  in  Europe  half  a  century  earlier.  Soon  after,  univer- 
sities were  established  in  man)''  other  cities,  and  attracted  nu- 
merous students.  It  is  hardly  credible  that  there  were  thirty 
thousand  at  Oxford,  England. 

It  has  been  before  remarked,  that  the  philosophy  of  Aristotle 
had  received  an  entirely  new  version  in  the  schools  of  the  east. 
It  was  read  in  the  west  in  this  eastern  form,  with  the  commenta- 
ries of  many  teachers,  and  it  became  at  last,  (as  Hallam  happily 
expresses  it,)  "a  barren  tree,  that  conceals  its  want  of  fruit 
by  a  profusion  of  leaves."  The  metaphysical,  mystical,  in- 
comprehensible subtleties,  which  passed  under  the  name  of  the 
philosophy  of  the  eminent  Greek,  settled  into  "  the  scholastic 
learning,"  because  it  was  taught  in  schools  founded  by  distin- 
guished men.  Some  men  acquired  an  enduring  fame  for  their 
accomplishments  in  disputation,  and  their  knowledge  of  terms 
and  phrases,  which  no  man  would  now  attempt  to  understand. 
This  metaphysical  cast  of  thought  and  expression,  communi- 
cated itself  to  all  the  intellectual  pursuits  of  the  time,  not  ex- 
cepting the  law  and  the  administration  of  justice:  The  effects 
are  still  perceived,  and  are  very  slowly  wearing  out.  There 
are  names  which  have  come  down  to  the  present  time,  con- 
nected with  the  scholastic  science.  Some  of  them  so  frequently 
occur,  that  it  may  be  useful  to  ascertain  the  times,  respectively, 
in  which  the  persons  lived  who  are  thus  distinguished.  Peter 
Abelard  (the  husband  of  Heloise)  was  born  near  Nantes,  in 
France,  in  1079;  died  in  1142.  He  had  a  school  of  theology 
and  rhetoric,  which  was  attended  by  three  thousand  scholars 
at  the  same  time.  Albertus  Magnus  was  of  a  noble  family  in 
Suabia  ;  born  about  1193,  and  lived  about  ninety  years.  He 
was  called  great  from  his  extraordinary  learning.  He  made 
40 


470  EMINENT    MEN. 

philosophical  experiments,  which  led  to  the  belief  that  he  dealt 
in  magic.  Thomas  Aquinas,  his  pupil,  destroyed  an  automa- 
ton of  his  master's  construction,  believing  it  to  be  the  work  of 
the  devil.  The  works  of  Albert,  which  might  have  caused 
him  to  be  remembered  with  respect  and  gratitude,  perished  in 
his  own  time.  Those  which  gave  him  celebrity  are  in  twenty- 
one  folio  volumes,  the  contents  of  which  are  probably  now 
known  to  no  one.  Thomas  Aquinas  was  a  native  of  Cala- 
bria, (in  Naples,)  descended  from  a  noble  family;  born  in 
1224,  died  in.  1274.  He  was  called  "  The  Angelical  Doctor," 
"  The  fifth  Doctor  of  the  Church,"  "  The  Eagle  of  Divines," 
"  The  Angel  of  the  Schools."  His  writings  are  comprised  in 
seventeen  folio  volumes.  Some  of  them  are  said  to  be  of 
authority  in  the  Catholic  church.  John  Duns,  called  also 
Duns  Scotus,  was  among  the  eminent  in  the  schools,  in  France, 
England,  and  Germany.  He  was  born  in  Northumberland, 
and  died  about  1309,  at  Cologne,  on  the  Rhine.  William 
Occam,  or  Ockham,  was  called  "  The  Invincible  Doctor." 
He  was  a  pupil  of  Duns  Scotus,  and  founder  of  a  sect  called 
Nominalists;  died  in  1347.  This  philosophy  was  an  absolute 
waste  of  time  and  talent ;  and,  about  the  middle  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  its  professors  discerned  that  nothing  had  been 
added  to  real  knowledge,  or  ever  could  be,  by  any  study  or 
use  of  words  and  terms  destitute  of  all  practical  or  rational 
meaning. 

While  the  philosophers  of  the  schools  were  carrying  on 
their  warfare  of  sounds,  the  provencal  poetry  and  the  roman- 
tic culture  of  the  imagination,  were  objects  of  attention  in  the 
south  of  France.*  The  modern  languages  of  Europe,  Italian, 
French,  and  Spanish,  by  unmarked  steps  then,  and  by  steps 
which  cannot  be  traced  now,  were  becoming  the  medium  of 
thought  in  works  of  fancy,  in  science,  and  in  business.  There 
were  men  who  discerned  the  emptiness  of  the  scholastic  dis- 
putations. At  the  head  of  all  of  them  is  placed  Roger  Bacon, 
(born  1214,  died  1292,)  to  whom  Hallam  intimates  an  indebt- 
edness from  Lord  Bacon,  which  this  eminent  philosopher  does 
not  seem  to  have  acknowledged.  [Hallam's  Middle  Ages, 
vol.  ii.  p.  357.]  The  Italian  language  had  been  so  moulded  and 
formed,  that,  about  the  year  1300,  it  could  be,  and  was  used  by 
the  Florentine  Dante  in  a  manner  to  secure  to  him  a  lasting 

*  Mrs.  Dobson  has  published  the  literary  history  of  the  Troubadours, 
collected  from  the  French  of  La  Curne  de  St.  Palaye,  in  a  small  volume. 
There  is  a  similar  work  by  the  French  historian,  Millot. 


EMINENT    MEN.  471 

renown.  Dante  is  the  abridged  name  of  Durante  Alighieri, 
born  at  Florence  in  1265;  he  rose  to  distinction  there,  and 
had  various  public  employments.  When  he  was  about  thirty- 
five  years  of  age,  the  party  to  which  he  belonged  (the  Bianchi, 
a  division  of  the  Guelfs)  was  vanquished,  and  Dante  was 
exiled.  The  rest  of  his  life  was  passed  in  sorrow  and  depen- 
dence. He  died  at  Ravenna  in  1321.  His  fame  rests  on  the 
great  poem  called  Divina  Comedia.  This  is  an  account  of  a 
visit  made  by  himself,  accompanied  by  the  Roman  poet  Virgil, 
to  hell,  purgatory,  and  heaven. 

Francis  Petrarch  was  born  in  the  life-time  of  Dante,  at 
Arezzo,  in  Tuscany,  in  1304,  and  died  in  1374.  The  emi- 
nence which  Petrarch  obtained  (as  much  perhaps  from  the 
romantic  association  of  his  name  with  that  of  Laura,  as  from 
any  other  cause)  as  a  poet  and  learned  man,  is  familiar  to  most 
readers. 

John  Boccaccio,  the  son  of  a  Florentine  merchant,  was  born 
at  Paris  in  1313,  and  died  in  1375,  at  Cortaldo,  in  Tuscany. 
These  three  eminent  men  are  considered  to  be  the  creators  of 
the  classic  Italian  language,  especially  the  first.  They  were 
all  living  at  the  same  time,  in  the  first  years  of  Boccaccio  and 
the  last  of  Dante,  though  these  two  were  not  known  to  each 
other.  The  Decameron  (one  hundred  tales  in  prose)  is  the 
work  on  which  the  fame  of  Boccaccio  rests. 

The  earliest  of  the  English  poets,  Geoffrey  Chaucer,  (born 
in  1328,  died  in  1400,)  was  contemporary  with  Boccaccio  and 
Petrarch,  and  may  have  produced  similar  effects  in  his  native 
isle  with  those  which  were  produced  by  his  brother  poets  in 
Italy.  However  this  may  have  been,  the  fact  is  established, 
that  the  genius  of  Europeans  was  called  into  action  in  the 
early  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  on  subjects  more  useful 
and  more  permanent  than  scholastic  erudition.  The  honors 
which  were  accorded  to  the  learned,  must  have  excited  great 
emulation  among  all  who  had  claims  to  be  considered  among 
that  class.  The  single  instance  of  the  honors  offered  to  Pe- 
trarch, shows  that  literary  fame  transcended  all  other  fame. 
On  the  23d  of  August,  1340,  Petrarch  was  invited  by  the  sen- 
ate of  Rome  to  go  to  that  city  and  receive  there  the  laurel 
crown,  according  to  the  ancient  forms  established  in  the  best 
-days  of  Roman  grandeur ;  and,  in  the  evening  of  the  same 
day,  he  received  an  invitation  from  the  chancellor  of  the  uni- 
versity of  Paris,  to  repair  to  that  city,  to  receive  a  laurel 
crown,  as  the  just  reward  of  his  literary  eminence.* 

*  The  most  reasonable  account  of  Petrach,  and  his  real  merits,  may 
be  found  in  Sismondi's  Italian  Republics,  vol.  v.  chap.  34. 


472  DISCOVERIES    AND    INVENTIONS. 

The  fourteenth  century  produced  many  writers  in  the  Ital- 
ian cities,  historians  as  well  as  poets,  some  of  them  of  great 
celebrity,  especially  three  of  the  name  of  Villani.  The  names 
of  Dante,  Petrarch,  and  Boccaccio,  are  the  only  ones  which 
are  familiar  to  most  readers  of  the  present  day.  Soon  after 
these  eminent  men  flourished,  learned  industry  devoted  itself 
to  the  study  of  ancient  manuscripts;  and  the  pride  of  ambition 
was  gratified  in  Latin  scholarship.  On  this,  Sismondi  re- 
marks : — "  It  was  in  the  language  of  past  ages,  and  by  placing 
one's  self  by  the  side  of  the  dead,  that  glory  was  sought ;  as 
though  inspiration  could  ever  come  through  a  language  which 
had  never  reached  the  bottom  of  the  heart  in  the  intimacy  of 
domestic  relations  ;  a  tongue  in  which  the  son  had  never  heard 
his  mother,  nor  the  lover  his  beloved,  and  which  was  incapa- 
ble of  exciting  a  popular  emotion."     [Sismondi,  vol.  viii.  p.  5.] 

The  great  discoveries  and  inventions  which  have  been  men- 
tioned, require  a  brief  notice  of  their  origin. 

The  mariner'' s  Compass.  This  is  attributed  to  a  citizen  of 
Amalfi,  named  Flavius  Gioja,  about  the  year  1300.  The  com- 
pass was  known  before  that  time,  though  it  is  not  known 
when  it  became  sufficiently  understood  to  be  generally  used. 
Dr.  Robertson  places  the  discovery  "soon  after  the  end  of  the 
holy  war,"  (1291.)  Vol.  i.  p.  68.  It  is  placed  fifty  or  one 
hundred  years  earlier  by  others.  See  Hallam's  Middle  Ages, 
vol.  ii.  p.  277.  Koch,  vol.  i.  p.  245.  Macpherson  on  Com- 
merce, vol.  i.  p.  364. 

Gunpowder.  If  Roger  Bacon,  who  died  in  1292,  knew 
any  thing  of  that  composition  now  called  gunpowder,  Koch 
(vol.  i.  p.  242)  thinks  he  acquired  his  knowledge  from  the 
books  translated  from  the  Arabic.  The  same  writer  treats  the 
commonly  received  opinion  of  invention  or  discovery  by  the 
German  Schwartz,  as  a  fable.  Cannon  were  first  used  by  the 
Moors,  in  Spain,  in  1342.  Small-arms  did  not  come  into  use 
till  about  one  hundred  years  afterwards.  This  accidental 
combination  of  saltpetre,  charcoal,  and  sulphur,  (substances 
harmless  and  insignificant,  singly,)  banished  the  gorgeous  dis- 
play of  the  tournament,  and  deprived  chivalry  of  its  heroic 
honors.     It  may  be  truly  considered  as  a  levelling  invention. 

Printing.  The  uncertainty  of  its  origin  indicates  that  it 
was  not  the  invention  of  any  one  mind,  but  of  many,  and  at 
different  times  and  places,  and  gradually  perfected  by  different 
suggestions  and  experiments.  Koch  (Tableau  des  Revo, 
de  l'Europe,  vol.  i.  p.  257,  and  seq.)  attributes  moveable  types 
to  John  Gutenburgh  of  Mayence,  (or  Mentz,  on  the  Rhine,) 


DISCOVERIES    AND    INVENTIONS.  473 

in  1436.  He  considers  Peter  Schoeffer,  of  Gernsheim,  the  in- 
ventor of  casting  of  types,  at  Mayence,  in  the  year  1 452.  Oth- 
ers attribute  the  invention  of  casting  to  John  Faust,  the  son-in- 
law,  and  associate  of  Schoeffer.  Koch  seems  to  have  made  it 
certain,  that  the  same  Gutenburgh  had  a  press  at  Strasbourgh 
from  1436  to  1445,  in  which  latter  year  he  returned  to  May- 
ence, and  formed  a  partnership  with  Faust.  It  can  hardly  be 
doubted  that  the  art  was  kept  secret  as  long  as  possible.  In 
1474  William  Caxton  introduced  printing  in  England.  The 
first|book  was  on  the  game  of  chess.*  [Macpherson  on  com- 
merce, vol.  1.  p.  688.] 

Ancient  manuscripts  or  books.  It  is  evidence  of  a  great 
change  in  the  intellectual  occupations,  that  a  diligent  search 
was  made  throughout  the  fifteenth  century  for  ancient  literature. 
The  places  in  which  the  search  was  most  successful  were 
churches  and  monasteries;  and  Bracciolini  Poggio,  a  Tuscan 
by  birth,  and  of  noble  family,  is  supposed  to  nave  been  the 
most  successful  of  those  who  so  employed  themselves.  He 
was  secretary  to  eight  successive  popes.  In  the  first  volume  of 
Roscoe's  Life  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  an  account  is  given  of  this 
man,  and  of  his  labors. 

Paper.  It  is  probable  that  the  invention  of  paper-making 
from  linen,  had  some  effect  in  promoting  the  changes  in  Europe. 
Paper-making  from  cotton  was  very  ancient  in  China.  In  the 
year  947,  the  best  paper  known  was  said  to  be  that  made  at 
Samarcand,  in  Bucharia,  (east  of  the  Caspian.)  Macpherson, 
vol.  1,  p.  269.  The  oldest  linen  paper  known,  is  in  the  library 
of  the  emperor  at  Vienna,  of  the  date  of  1253. 

In  connexion  with  these  intellectual  pursuits,  the  practical 
arts  and  sciences  had  been  advancing.  The  time  may  be  said 
to  have  gone  by,  in  which  princes  and  prelates  could  command 
the  submissive  multitude  to  believe  and  obey.  The  day  was 
dawning  in  which  the  adverse  doctrine,  inquire  and  examine, 
was  to  prevail.  The  causes  of  this  great  change  may  be,  in 
part,  perceived  ;  but  there  must  have  been  many  others  not  to 
be  traced,  but  no  less  effective.  All  these  causes  known  and 
unknown,  and  whether  operating  singly  or  in  combination, 
had  stamped  a  new  character  on  society,  compared  with  that  of 
the  eleventh  century.  The  despotism  of  the  Roman  church 
preserved  its  character.     But  its  avarice,  profligacy,  and  cor- 

*  In  the  Foreign  Quarterly  Review,  (London,)  Art.  VII.,  April,  1837, 
the  origin  of  the  art  of  printing  is  discussed.  The  honor,  according  to 
this  writer,  belongs  to  Gutenburgh. 

40* 


474  EASTERN    EMPIRE. 

ruption,  could  no  longer  be  concealed  under  the  sacred  office  of 
the  priesthood.  The  elements  of  revolution  had  long  been  fer- 
menting; and  society  may  well  be  considered  as  sufficiently 
enlightened  to  have  carried  revolution  to  its  full  length,  and  to 
have  abolished  the  clergy,  and  to  have  reformed  the  church. 
There  were  many  obstacles  to  such  measures.  Whatever  may 
have  been  thought  of  the  clergy  as  a  class,  there  were  many 
pure  and  worthy  members  among  them.  Religious  reverence 
was  associated  with  every  thing, political, social,  domestic;  and 
multitudes  were  blind  to  the  clerical  abuses,  or  interested  to 
maintain  them.  A  reformation  in  the  church  was  known  to 
be  necessary,  and  was  earnestly  desired  ;  but  opinion  was  much 
divided  as  to  the  manner  of  effecting  it.  There  were  perils  in 
attempting  it  in  any  manner,  as  the  church  had  lost  none  of  its 
terrific  power.  The  case  was  hopeless — nothing  but  convul- 
sion and  violence  could  break  up  the  existing  relations,  and 
form  new  ones.  The  pope,  the  cardinals,  the  bishops,  and 
the  hosts  of  inferior  clergy  would  not  relinquish  their  hold,  nor 
admit  the  need  of  change ;  the  church  had  associated  itself  with 
all  temporal  governments,  and  every  grade  of  society — the 
people  of  every  Christian  country,  had  a  superstitious  dread  of 
interfering  with  the  objects  so  long  regarded  with  reverential 
awe.  Great  commendation  may  be  due  to  some  of  the  agents 
who  appeared  in  the  measures  of  reform  in  the  sixteenth  centu- 
ry. But  the  all-important  event  of  freeing  one  portion  of  the 
Christian  community  from  the  Roman  church,  was  not  of  hu- 
man design.  It  was  too  grand  a  conception  for  any  mortal. 
It  was  a  result,  not  a  purpose ;  a  result  to  which  the  Christian 
world  owes  all  its  freedom,  happiness  and  capacity  to  improve. 


CHAPTER  LXIV. 

Constantine — Constantinople — Justinian — Factions  of  the   Circus —  TVteo- 
dora — Bclisarius — Narses — Edifices — Civil  Law — Remarkable  Events. 

Constantine  the  Great,  according  to  Gibbon,  in  his  chap- 
ter XIV.,  was  born  at  Naissus,  in  Dacia,  about  the  year  274. 
Naisus  is  450  miles  north-west  from  Constantinople,  and  100 
miles  south  from  the  Danube.  On  the  decease  of  his  father 
Constantius,  at  York,  in  England,  in  306,  Constantine  was  de- 
clared emperor,  by  the  army  at  that  place.     He  had  several 


EASTERN    EMPIRE.  475 

competitors  for  the  throne,  whom  he  vanquished  in  several  bat- 
tles, in  different  places.  The  last  of  them  was  Licinius,  who 
maintained  the  imperial  dignity  at  the  eastern  part  of  the  em- 
pire, in  Europe.  In  the  year  334,  Constantine  had  united  the 
whole  empire  under  his  dominion.  He  had  no  partiality  for 
Rome ;  and,  probably,  had  never  resided  there  but  at  the  time 
when  he  conquered  Maxentius,  one  of  his  five  competitors,  in 
its  vicinity.  The  design  of  establishing  a  new  capital  was 
first  entertained  in  324.  Gibbon's  chapter  XVII.  is  devoted  to 
a  description  of  the  site  of  ancient  Byzantium,  and  the  waters 
and  territory  around  it — to  the  selection  of  this  place  by  Con- 
stantine, as  his  seat  of  empire — to  the  building  of  the  city — to 
the  government  of  the  empire,  from  this  place  ;  and  to  the  or- 
er  of  internal  arrangement  and  police.  The  design  was  wor- 
thy of  a  great  mind,  and  was  successfully  executed.  The 
whole  empire  was  laid  under  contribution  to  aggrandize  Con- 
stantinople, and  it  arose,  at  once,  to  be  the  grandest  city  of  the 
world.  The  most  comprehensive  and  particular  description  wre 
have  seen  of  this  city  is  contained  in  a  work  entitled,  "  A  Me- 
moir on  the  Commerce  and  Navigation  of  the  Black  Sea,  and 
the  Trade  and  Maritime  Geography  of  Turkey  and  Egypt : 
by  Henry  A.  S.  Dearborn."  (Published  at  Boston,  in  1819, 
2  vols.  8vo.,  with  a  third  volume  of  maps ;  a  work  containing 
a  rich  compilation  of  historical,  geographical,  and  commercial 
facts.) 

The  short  description,  necessary  to  the  present  purpose,  is 
taken  from  Gibbon,  and  the  work  above  mentioned,  and  from 
some  other  sources.  The  Euxine  or  black  sea,  and  the  Pro- 
pontis,  or  sea  of  Marmora,  are  connected  by  the  Bosphorus,  or 
channel  of  Constantinople,  about  sixteen  miles  in  length,  of 
irregular  course  from  north-east  to  south-west.  Through  this 
channel  there  is  an  unceasing  current  from  the  Black  Sea  to  the 
Marmora.  When  this  current  comes  within  about  a  mile  of 
the  Marmora,  its  course  is  nearly  south.  On  the  European  side 
it  passes  by  the  suburbs  of  Pera  and  Galata ;  and  the  Port, 
which  is  an  arm  of  the  Bosphorus,  (extending  up  northwest- 
wardly between  these  suburbs  and  the  city;)  and  then  by  the 
eastern  side,  or  point  of  the  city.  On  the  Asiatic  side,  it  passes 
by  Scutari,  (the  ancient  Chalcedon)  which  is  nearly  opposite 
to  the  city.  Between  the  city  and  Scutari,  the  Bosphorus 
is  about  one  mile  and  one  furlong  wide.  The  eastern  point 
of  the  city  forms  an  obtuse  angle,  of  about  two-thirds  of  a  mile, 
between  the  Marmora  and  the  Port,  having  the  former  for  its 
south  boundary,  and  the  port  for  its  north-eastern  one.     As  the 


476  EASTERN    EMPIRE. 

city  extends  westwardly,  between  the  Marmora  and  the  Port, 
over  several  hills,  it  gradually  widens.  At, the  distance  of  three 
miles  and  a  half,  west  from  the  Bosphorus,  it  is  four  miles  wide, 
from  the  Marmora  across  to  the  port.  On  this  line  is  the  west- 
ern wall  of  the  city,  or  base  of  the  triangle.  At  the  south  end 
of  the  line,  on  the  Marmora,  are  the  seven  towers.  The  walls 
of  the  city  are  in  contact  with  the  waters,  on  all  sides,  but  the 
west.  The  wall  here  was  (in  1453)  a  double  one,  having  an 
intervening  ditch  of  great  depth.  The  Port  is  7  or  8  miles 
long,  of  various  widths ;  the  narrowest,  opposite  the  city,  is 
about  one  quarter  of  a  mile.  The  church  of  St.  Sophia,  now 
a  Mosk,  is  about  three  furlongs  west  from  the  Bosphorus,  and 
nearly  in  the  middle  of  the  point  of  land.  Measuring  from 
the  port  to  the  Marmora,  in  a  line  through  this  church,  running 
from  north  to  south,  the  distance  exceeds,  a  little,  seven  fur- 
longs. After  the  capture  of  Constantinople,  in  1453,  the  whole 
space  between  the  church  and  the  Bosphorus,  and  towards 
the  port,  was  appropriated  by  the  sultan  to  his  own  exclusive 
use.  Here  are  the  palace,  harem,  courts,  and  gardens.  South- 
west of  the  church,  and  near  it,  is  the  hippodrome,  in  which 
the  factions  of  the  charioteers  exhibited  themselves. 

At  the  west  end  of  the  sea  of  Marmora,  about  120  miles  from 
the  city,  is  the  Hellespont,  or  Straits  of  the  Dardanelles,  about  35 
miles  in  length,  which  connects  the  Marmora  with  the  Grecian 
Archipelago.  The  Black  Sea,  the  channel  of  Constantinople, 
the  Marmora,  and  the  Dardanelles,  and  the  Archipelago,  sepa- 
rate Europe  from  Asia. 

In  the  year  395,  Theodorus  divided  the  Roman  empire  into 
west  and  east,  and  gave  the  one  part  to  Honoiius,  the  other  to 
Arcadius,  his  sons.  The  eastern  empire  extended  from  the 
Black  Sea  along  the  Danube,  to  the  20th  degree  of  east  long., 
about  600  miles  west  from  the  Black  Sea;  and  from  the  Danube 
southwardly  to  the  Adriatic,  including  Thrace,  Macedonia,  and 
Epirus,  and  the  territory  known  as  Greece,  and  its  islands. 
The  coast  of  Africa,  from  ancient  Carthage  to  Palestine,  includ- 
ing Egypt,  was  part  of  the  empire.  The  eastern  coast  of  the 
Mediterranean,  was  included,  and  thence  northwardly  to  the 
Black  Sea,  including  also,  all  Asia  Minor.  Beyond  this  eastern 
boundary,  was  the  territory  of  the  great  valley  of  the  Eu- 
phrates and  the  Tigris,  which  had  been  the  shifting  boundary 
of  the  Romans  and  Persians,  for  many  centuries. 

In  the  .former  part  of  these  sketches,  the  succession  from 
Constantine  to  the  commencement  of  the  sixth  century,  has 
been  noticed.     The  authentic  source  of  historical  information 


JUSTINIAN.  477 

for  his  period  is  found  in  the  seventeenth  and  six  following 
chapters  of  Gibbon.  The  present  purpose  is  to  make  a  sketch 
of  the  eastern  empire,  from  500  to  1453,  when  the  Turks  pos- 
sessed themselves  of  Constantinople.  The  materials  are  taken 
from  Gibbon,  in  general,  excepting  as  to  the  crusades  and  the 
church.  As  to  these,  Heeren,  Koch,  Hallam,  and  histories  of 
the  church  are  the  principal  guides.  As  to  the  civil  law, 
Harris's  Institutes  of  Justinian,  and  other  authorities,  are  relied 
on.  The  principal  object  is  to  notice  those  events  which  have 
had  a  lasting  effect  on  subsequent  ages.  Secondary  to  this,  is 
the  actual  condition  of  society  in  these  ages,  and  the  causes  of 
its  wretchedness.  Last,  and  the  least  important,  is  the  course 
of  crime  by  which  the  throne  of  the  Eastern,  or  Greek  empire, 
was  gained  or  lost.  It  is  probable,  that  more  atrocious  crimes 
were  committed  in  Constantinople  in  these  nine  or  ten  centu- 
ries, than  were  ever  known  in  any  place,  or  among  an  equal 
number  of  persons,  in  the  same  space  of  time.  The  character 
of  this  criminality  seems  to  have  been  the  more  odious  from 
the  power  and  influence  which  women  appear  to  have  had  in 
public  affairs.  Many  of  these  scenes  occurred  in  the  close  of 
the  fifth,  and  commencement  of  the  sixth  century,  which  are 
passed  over,  to  consider  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Justinian. 

The  family  of  this  emperor  was  of  humble  origin.  It  was 
first  known  at  a  place  called  Sardica,  the  capital  of  Bulgaria; 
now  known  as  Sophia,  285  miles  west-north-west  from  Con- 
stantinople. Justin,  the  uncle  of  Justinian,  with  two  other 
peasants,  found  their  way  from  their  birth-place  to  Constanti- 
nople. Justin  entered  the  army  and  acquired  respect  and 
confidence  as  a  soldier;  and  was  raised  by  his  comrades  to  the 
throne,  in  the  year  518.  He  adopted  his  nephew  Justinian, 
who  reigned  thirty-eight  years  and  seven  months,  from  527  to 
565.  The  events  of  his  reign  have  been  transmitted  by  Pro- 
copius,  who  was  secretary  to  the  general  Belisarius.*  It  is 
worth  noticing  that  while  Justin  was  on  the  throne  of  Con- 
stantinople, Theodoric  was  on  the  throne  of  Italy,  and  that 
neither  of  these  monarchs  had  been  so  well  educated  as  to  be 
able  to  write  or  read.  Both  of  them  attained  to  their  distinction 
by  means  of  military  renown.  Remarkable  as  these  vicissi- 
tudes may  appear,  they  were  not  singular.  There  were 
changes  in  the  condition  of  other  individuals,  equally  remark- 
able ;  and  perhaps  no  one  more  so  than  in  the  case  of  Theodora, 
the  wife  of  Justinian.     She  was  one  of  three  daughters  of 

*  See  Gibbon's  fortieth  chapter. 


478  JUSTINIAN. 

Acacius,  a  native  of  the  isle  of  Cyprus,  whose  employment 
was  that  of  keeper  of  the  wild  beasts  maintained  by  the  faction 
of  the  blues.  There  were  two  numerous  bodies  of  men,  dis- 
tinguished by  the  color  of  their  garments,  the  blues  and  the 
greens,  who  were  pledged  to  deadly  hostility  to  each  other. 
They  were  communities  within  the  city,  and  sufficiently  pow- 
erful, not  only  to  put  the  whole  city  in  terror,  but  even  the 
emperor  himself.  All  occurrences,  religious,  political,  and 
military,  had  some  connection  with  these  factions.  The  fate 
of  Theodora  was,  in  some  degree,  influenced  by  them,  as  her 
father  was  connected  with  the  blues.  At  his  death,  the  oldest 
of  the  three  sisters  was  not  seven  years  of  age.  All  of  them 
were  remarkable  for  grace- and  beauty,  and  all  of  them  were 
devoted  to  the  theatre  by  their  mother,  at  a  time  when  it  was 
infamous  to  be  of  the  theatrical  company,  even  in  depraved  and 
licentious  Constantinople.  There  is  no  moral  degradation 
which  is  not  affirmed  of  Theodora.  After  being  for  years, 
Gibbon  says,  "the  delight  and  the  contempt  of  the  city,"  she 
accompanied  a  native  of  Tyre  to  Egypt,  where  he  abandoned 
her,  and  she  found  her  way  from  Alexandria,  through  Syria 
and  Asia  Minor,  to  Constantinople,  having  left  a  son  who  was 
educated  by  his  father,  somewhere  in  Arabia.  On  her  return 
she  became  more  discreet;  assumed  a  character  of  chastity, 
and  ensnared  Justinian,  who,  through  many  difficulties  and 
serious  objections  from  her  former  infamy,  made  her  his  wife 
and  empress.  "  The  prostitute  who  had  polluted  the  theatre 
of  Constantinople,  was  adored  as  a  queen,  in  the  same  city,  by 
grave  magistrates,  orthodox  bishops,  victorious  generals,  and 
captive  monarchs."  The  character  of  the  government,  and 
the  order  of  society  is  shown  by  the  fact,  that  the  cellar  of 
Theodora's  palace  contained  prisons  and  dungeons,  to  which 
all  were  hurried,  without  trial  or  public  accusation,  who  in- 
curred her  displeasure.  She  saw  with  her  own  eyes,  that 
chains  and  torments  were  properly  applied,  according  to  her 
feelings  of  justice.  Yet  Theodora  is  spoken  of  for  her  good 
sense,  and  even  her  virtues,  as  a  queen.  After  reigning 
twenty-two  years,  she  died  of  a  cancer.  Gibbon  says,  "the 
prudence  of  Theodora  is  celebrated  by  Justinian  himself;  and 
his  laws  are  attributed  to  the  sage  counsels  of  his  'most  revered 
wife,  whom  he  had  received  as  a  gift  of  the  Deity." 

The  character  of  the  times  is  further  shown  in  the  factions 
of  the  circus.  They  arose  from  the  color  of  the  dress  worn  by 
those  who  contended  for  the  prizes.  They  soon  became 
associated  with  every  public  concern,  and  their  influence  ex- 


JUSTINIAN.  479 

- 

tended  to  the  great  cities  of  the  provinces.  The  blues  espoused 
the  side  of  orthodoxy,  the  greens  were  heretics  ;  that  is,  Mani- 
chaeans,  Eutychians,  Arians,  &c.  In  the  fifth  year  of  Justinian, 
a  tumult  arose  at  the  circus,  at  a  celebration  of  the  ides  of 
January,  ordered  by  the  emperor.  The  games  were  disturbed 
by  the  clamors  ofthe  greens,  till  the  emperor  became  irritated, 
and  ordered  a  crier  to  proclaim  :  "  Be  silent,  ye  insolent  railers, 
ye  Jews,  Samaritans,  and  Manichaeans !"  The  greens  then 
complained  that  a  general  persecution  was  exercised  against 
their  name  and  color:  they  at  last  lamented  that  the  father  of 
Justinian  had  been  born,  and  declared  his  son  a  homicide,  an 
ass,  and  a  perjured  tyrant.  "Do  you  despise  your  lives!" 
said  Justinian.  The  blues,  always  armed,  immediately  com- 
menced a  conflict  with  the  greens,  which  continued  through 
several  successive  days.  All  civil  authority  was  at  an  end; 
liberty,  property,  and  person,  without  distinction  of  office  or 
sex,  were  submitted  to  the  violence  of  the  blues  and  greens. 
The  city  was  set  on  fire;  the  church  of  St.  Sophia,  and  part  of 
the  palace  were  consumed.  Justinian  prepared  to  escape  into 
Asia,  and  assembled  a  council  to  decide  whether  he  should  fly. 
All  of  this  council  advised  to  flight,  but  Theodora.  If  the 
words  which  Gibbon  attributes  to  her,  were  hers,  whatever 
her  morals  and  her  heart  may  have  been,  she  has  claim  to  be 
ranked  as  a  heroine :  "  If  flight  were  the  only  means  of  safety, 
yet  I  should  disdain  to  fly.  Death  is  the  condition  of  our 
birth.  I  adhere  to  the  maxim  of  antiquity,  that  the  throne  is  a 
glorious  sepulchre."  This  firmness  turned  the  attention  of  the 
council  to  other  measures.  The  blues  and  greens  had  come 
to  a  sort  of  armistice,  and  were  assembled  in  the  hippodrome. 
Three  thousand  chosen  troops  were  led  thither,  and  the  en- 
trances at  the  two  ends  were  cautiously  approached  by  this 
body  in  two  divisions,  and  thirty  thousand  persons  are  said  to 
have  fallen  in  the  promiscuous  slaughter.  Justinian  and 
Theodora  were  thus  reinstated  in  their  power.  They  used  it, 
as  may  be  expected,  with  a  vigor  proportioned  to  the  insult 
which  the  dignity  of  the  purple  had  received;  and  especially 
on  the  greens  and  their  adherents,  who,  in  the  course  of  the 
tumult,  had  proclaimed  an  opponent  emperor. 

The  wars  of  Justinian  were  almost  incessant;  sometimes 
with  the  Persians,  and  sometimes  with  the  barbarians.  His 
wars  were  conducted  by  Belisarius,  and  afterwards  by  Narses. 
The  former  is  entitled  to  the  highest  praise  that  can  ever  be- 
long to  the  character  of  a  warrior.  He  came  from  an  obscure 
family  in  Thrace.     He  rose  to  the  highest  command.     The 


480  JUSTINIAN. 

military  glory  of  Justinian  was  won  by  him.  In  530,  he  van- 
quished an  army  of  Persia.  The  only  battle  he  ever  lost,  and 
that  not  by  his  fault,  was  in  the  following  year,  against  the 
same  enemy.  In  532,  he  was  called  home  to  suppress  the 
blue  and  green  factions.  In  534,  he  was  sent  to  Africa,  to 
conquer  the  Vandal  kingdom  established  at  Carthage.  The 
most  consummate  prudence  and  skill  accomplished  this  enter- 
prise. Gelimer,  the  king  of  the  Vandals,  driven  in  the  last 
resort  to  a  fortress  in  Mauritania,  was  there  besieged.  When 
invited  to  surrender,  and  when  almost  destitute  of  the  necessa- 
ries of  life,  he  refused;  but  besought  the  leader  of  his  enemies 
to  send  him  a  loaf  of  bread,  and  a  harp  to  console  his  sorrows, 
and  a  sponge  to  bathe  his  eyes;  (which  were  diseased  from 
exposure  and  suffering.)  He  was  taken  and  conducted  to  the 
foot  of  the  throne,  on  which  Justinian  and  Theodora  were 
seated.  To  Belisarius  wTas  allowed  a  triumphal  entry,  the 
only  one  that  was  ever  allowed  to  a  subject,  at  Constantinople. 
Among  the  trophies,  were  the  holy  vessels  of  Solomon's  tem- 
ple, which  had  been  carried  to  Rome  450  years  before.  It 
was  seventy  years  since  they  had  been  plundered  from  Rome 
and  carried  to  Carthage.  By  the  emperor's  order  they  were 
returned  to  the  church  of  Jerusalem.  This  was  the  end  of  the 
Vandals.  There  is  a  medal  still  in  being,  commemorative  of 
these  events,  bearing  the  words — Belisarius  Gloria  Roman- 
orum.  In  540,  Belisarius  conducted  Vitiges,  the  Gothic  king 
of  Italy,  to  Constantinople.  In  559  he  carried  on  the  war 
against  the  Bulgarians,  and  conquered  them.  He  was,  at  other 
times,  engaged  against  the  Persians  and  barbarians. 

Although  Belisarius  thus  contributed  to  the  glory  of  Justin- 
ian, and  at  no  time  assumed  to  exercise  power  on  his  own  ac- 
count, (though  he  might  have  placed  himself  on  the  throne, 
probably,)  he  could  not  escape  calumny  and  suspicion  ;  especial- 
ly when  such  a  person  as  Theodora  was  to  be  pleased.  He 
was  suspected  of  a  conspiracy,  deprived  of  his  command,  im- 
prisoned in  his  own  palace,  fined  120,000  pieces  of  gold;  and 
was  informed  that  he  owed  his  life  to  the  prayers  and  tears  of 
his  wife  Antonina.  This  person  was  of  the  same  order,  and 
more  infamous,  if  possible,  than  Theodora,  on  the  stage.  She 
was  the  acquaintance,  and,  alternately,  the  companion,  the 
enemy,  the  instrument,  and  the  friend  of  Theodora.  Belisarius 
was  not  ignorant  of  her  faithlessness  to  him ;  yet  his  forbear- 
ance to  her,  (Gibbon  says,)  was  above  or  below  the  dignity  of 
a  man.  Perhaps  the  wise  Belisarius  understood  the  times, 
and  the  characters  around  him,  and  tolerated  Antonina  as 


JUSTINIAN.  481 

necessary  to  him,  and  because  she  was  a  lover  of  his  glory,  if 
not  of  himself.  The  accounts  given,  that  the  eyes  of  Belisarius 
were  put  out;  that  he  was  imprisoned,  and  begged  alms  by 
letting  a  bag  down  from  his  grate ;  and  that  he  begged  his 
bread  in  the  streets,  are  not  supported  by  any  evidence.  If  he 
had  so  fallen  in  the  estimation  of  Justinian,  it  must  have  been 
from  suspicion  of  offence  which  would  have  required  the 
sacrifice  of  his  life.     He  died  in  565,  at  an  advanced  age. 

After  Belisarius  was  disgraced,  the  eunuch  Narses  com- 
manded in  Italy,  and  conquered  the  northern  part,  from  the 
river  Po  southwardly;  so  that  all  Italy,  south  of  that  river, 
was  again  a  part  of  the  Roman  empire.  But  Narses,  like 
other  successful  chiefs  in  the  service  of  a  suspicious  and  cor- 
rupt court,  was  feared  in  proportion  to  his  success.  He  also 
was  disgraced,  and  died  of  shame  and  grief;  though  he  might 
well  have  died  without  such  cause,  since  he  is  said  to  have 
attained  to  the  age  of  ninety-five. 

Two  other  occurrences  in  Justinian's  reign  are  to  be  men- 
tioned, (avoiding  now  the  affairs  of  the  church,  which  are  to 
be  mentioned  separately;)  first,  the  edifices;  and  secondly,  the 
new  compilation  of  the  laws.  The  early  attention  of  Justinian 
was  devoted  to  rebuilding  the  church  of  St.  Sophia,  (or  the 
eternal  wisdom.)  Ten  thousand  men  were  employed:  At  the 
end  of  five  years,  ten  months,  and  eleven  days,  Justinian  ex- 
claimed, at  the  solemn  feast  of  the  dedication,  "  Glory  be  to 
God,  who  has  thought  me  worthy  to  accomplish  so  great  a 
work!  I  have  vanquished  thee,  O  Solomon!"  There  is  no 
space  for  the  description  of  this  magnificent  temple,  which  still 
remains,  (nearly  1300  years,)  though  transformed  into  a  Turk- 
ish mosque,  an  object  of  admiration.  Besides  this  church,  he 
built  twenty-five  magnificent  churches  in,  and  near,  Constanti- 
nople. The  detail  of  similar  structures  throughout  his  empire, 
and  of  bridges,  aqueducts,  and  fortifications,  need  not  be  pur- 
sued. He  seemed  to  be  ambitious  of  leaving  some  enduring 
memorial  of  himself,  wherever  one  could  be  raised.  But  this 
was  a  costly  vanity  to  his  subjects.  He  availed  himself  of  eve- 
ry resource  which  ingenuity  could  devise,  however  unjust  and 
oppressive.  In  these  respects,  the  pious  Justinian  disregarded  the 
maxims  which  he  proclaimed.  He  exercised  the  power  of  the 
strongest,  without  regard  to  justice  or  suffering.  It  would  be 
too  charitable  to  suppose  that  piety  and  patriotism  were  his 
motives,  and  not  an  unprofitable  ambition,  and  a  criminal 
selfishness. 

Though  the  fame  of  Justinian  is  connected  with  splendid 
41 


482  JUSTINIAN    CODE. 

structures,  some  of  which  remain  to  the  present  time;  and 
though  historians  may  consider  his  reign  glorious,  from  the 
conquests  which  his  generals  achieved,  these  are  slight  claims 
to  consideration,  compared  with  the  code  of  laws  which  hear 
his  name.  So  long  as  the  Corpus  Juris  Civilis  (the  body  of 
the  civil  law)  continues  to  be  the  standard  of  right  and  wrong 
in  the  administration  of  justice,  among  enlightened  nations, 
this  emperor  must  be  remembered.  This  great  work  was, 
probably,  his  own  design.  He  was  learned,  diligent,  and 
competent  to  do  what  he  professes  to  have  done.  There  is 
evidence  of  his  own  agency  in  the  declaration  which  prefaces 
the  Institutes.  He  therein  says, — "  The  imperial  dignity 
should  be  supported  by  arms  and  guarded  by  laws,  that  the 
people,  in  time  of  peace  as  well  as  war,  may  be  secured  from 
dangers  and  rightly  governed.  For,  a  Roman  emperor  ought 
not  only  to  be  victorious  over  his  enemies  in  the  field,  but 
should  also  take  every  legal  course  to  clear  the  state  from  all 
members  whose  crafts  and  iniquities  are  subversive  of  the  law. 
Be  it  the  care,  therefore,  of  him  upon  whom  government  de- 
volves, to  be  renowned  for  a  most  religious  observance  of  law 
and  justice,  as  well  as  for  his  triumphs." 

It  is  among  the  sure  indications  of  a  nation's  decline,  that 
the  authority  of  law-making  has  returned,  by  gradual  usurpa- 
tions, to  the  will  of  a  monarch.  The  concentration  of  all 
power  in  himself,  enabled  Justinian  to  abrogate  all  customary 
and  written  law,  and  present  a  new  system  to  his  subjects ; 
and  enabled  him,  also,  to  dispense  with  that  system,  and  sub- 
stitute his  own  will  and  pleasure  whenever  it  suited  his  inter- 
est or  caprice  to  do  so.  What  Junius  said  of  a  certain  Eng- 
lish judge,  with  more  malice  than  truth,  was  strictly  applica- 
ble to  Justinian : — "  For  the  defence  of  truth,  of  law,  and 
reason,  the  Doctor's  book  may  be  safely  consulted  ;  but  who- 
ever wishes  to  cheat  a  neighbor  of  his  estate,  or  rob  a  country 
of  its  rights,  need  make  no  scruple  of  consulting  the  Doctor 
himself."     [Letter  xiv.j 

When  a  nation  has  moved  onward,  for  centuries,  under  the 
rules  which  have  regulated  all  rights  of  persons,  of  property, 
and  of  political  power,  it  is  a  difficult  and  a  serious  labor  to 
form  new  rules  for  all  these  purposes,  or  to  give  a  new  form 
to  those  in  force.  To  do  this,  and  do  it  well,  and  so  well  that 
other  nations,  not  then  in  being,  have  unanimously  consented 
to  regard  the  product  of  such  labor  with  respect  and  reverence, 
and  to  receive  it  as  declarative  of  the  eternal  principles  of 
justice,  is  a  reward  of  exalted  value,  however  unthonght  of  by 


CIVIL    LAW.  483 

the  author.  Those  for  whom  the  civil  law  was  designed, 
have,  long  since,  disappeared  from  the  earth  ;  the  whole  region 
in  which  it  was  to  rule  is  ignorant  that  it  exists.  The  koran 
and  the  laws  of  "  the  prophet "  reign  there  in  sullen  despotism. 
But  the  civil  law  is  known  and  cherished  by  enlightened  na- 
tions, who  were  enveloped  in  the  deep  obscurity  of  barbarism 
when  this  law  was  promulgated. 

When  Justinian  lived,  more  than  twelve  hundred  years  had 
elapsed  from  the  foundation  of  Rome.  In  the  revolutions 
which  occurred  in  this  city,  the  law-making  power  was  in 
various  and  different  hands.  The  laws  and  the  commentaries 
on  them  had  become  so  numerous  that  they  would  make 
"  many  camels'  loads."  Justinian  says, — "  When  we  had 
arranged  and  brought  into  lucid  harmony  the  hitherto  confus- 
ed mass  of  imperial  constitutions,  we  then  extended  our  care 
to  the  numerous  volumes  of  ancient  law,  and  have  now  com- 
pleted, with  the  favor  of  Heaven,  (wading,  as  it  were,  through 
a  vast  ocean,)  a  work  which  exceeded  even  our  hope,  and  was 
attended  with  greatest  difficulties."  These  words  disclose 
what  the  materials  of  the  civil  law  were.  By  "  imperial  con- 
stitutions" is  intended  the  laws  which  were  made  by  the  sole 
authority  of  the  emperors.  In  the  year  31  before  our  era, 
Augustus  made  laws,  but  used  the  formality  of  having  the 
assent  of  the  senate.  His  successor,  Tiberius,  disencumbered 
himself  of  this  form ;  and,  ever  after,  the  laws  came  from  the 
mere  will  of  the  emperors.  The  senate  and  the  people  ex- 
empted Augustus  from  the  coercion  of  the  laws,  and  gave  him 
the  power  of  amending  or  making  whatever  laws  he  thought 
proper.  He  and  his  successors  made  laws  by  epistolte,  which 
were  letters  containing  the  emperor's  opinions  on  matters  aris- 
ing in  different  parts  of  the  empire.  By  decreta,  which  were 
judgments  given  by  the  emperor,  personally,  in  court.  By 
cdicta,  or  edicts,  or  positive  enactments,  in  affairs  of  the  state, 
independent  of  the  senate.  By  mandates,  or  commands  to 
particular  officers.  By  interpretationes,  or  interpretations  of 
existing  laws  according  to  the  imperial  will.  The  first  part  of 
the  civil  law  consists  of  these  imperial  constitutions,  and  is 
called  "  the  code."  But  the  compilation  did  not  go  to  a  time 
more  remote  than  when  Hadrian  was  emperor,  A.  D.  117  to 
138. 

The  second  part  of  the  civil  law  is  what  Justinian  intends 
by  the  words  *'  the  numerous  volumes  of  the  ancient  laws." 
These  were  digested  into  a  form  which  is  called  "  The  Digest," 
or  "  The  Pandects,"  usually  quoted  by  the  former   name. 


484  CIVIL    LAW. 

How  deeply  the  compilers  penetrated  the  antiquity  of  Roman 
jurisprudence,  is  very  doubtful.  It  is  probable  that  the  laws 
of  the  republic,  when  Rome  breathed  the  spirit  of  manly  inde- 
pendence, were  little  to  the  purpose.  The  word  Pandects  is 
said  to  be  compounded  of  two  Greek  words,  which  mean  all 
and  receivers,  or  general  receivers  ;  but  Gibbon  seems  to  doubt 
(in  a  note  to  his  44th  chapter)  whether  the  word  is  Greek  or 
Latin.  This  part  of  the  work  purports  to  be  the  marrow  of 
all  former  jurisprudence,  and  to  be  drawn  from  many  labori- 
ous works.  Among  others, —  1.  The  laws  of  the  early  kings, 
collected  by  Papirius.  2.  The  "  twelve  tables,"  or  the  laws 
inscribed  on  twelve  tables  of  brass,  about  sixty  years  after  the 
expulsion  of  Tarquin.  3.  The  juris  consulti,  or  opinions  of 
learned  jurists,  both  under  the  republic  and  under  the  empe- 
rors. 4.  The  plebiscita,  or  laws  of  the  people,  made  during 
their  contentions  with  the  patricians.  5.  The  senatus  con- 
sults, or  laws  of  the  senate,  under  the  republic.  6.  The  laws 
made  by  the  prsetors,  who  exercised  judicial  office.  7.  The 
laws  of  the  curules  aediles,  originally  inspectors  of  the  public 
buildings.  8.  Besides  these,  there  were  many  digests  made 
by  learned  men  in  various  ages  of  Rome ;  and,  among  the 
most  eminent  are, — 1.  Offilius,  in  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar. 
2.  Sulvius  Julius,  time  of  Augustus,  author  of  the  "  perpetual 
edict."  3.  Gregorius,  Hermogenes,  and  Papirius,  first  half 
of  second  century,  time  of  Antoninus.  4.  The  code  made  in 
438,  in  the  time  of  Theodosius  the  younger,  which  furnished 
the  rules  of  law  in  the  west  for  centuries.  5.  The  five  emi- 
nent civilians  in  the  first  half  of  the  third  century,  Caius,  Pa- 
pinian,  Paul,  Ulpian,  and  Modestinus.  But  there  were  hun- 
dreds of  others,  who  were  authors  of  more  or  less  note.  These 
digests  had  little  effect  in  preserving  a  general  knowledge  of 
right  and  wrong.  From  the  time  of  Augustus  to  the  end  of 
the  empire,  the  whole  population  had  become  so  debased  and 
corrupted,  that  the  language  of  Theophilus,  in  the  court  of 
Justinian,  applied  equally  to  all  times : — "  What  interest  or 
passion  can  reach  the  calm  and  sublime  elevation  of  the  mon- 
arch !  He  is  already  master  of  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  his 
subjects,  and  those  who  have  incurred  his  displeasure  are 
already  numbered  with  the  dead."* 

Justinian  selected  seventeen  lawyers  from  Constantinople, 
Rome,  and  Befytus,  which  were  the  most  eminent.     Berytus 

*  Before  the  end  of  the  first  half  century  of  the  American  republic, 
a  majority  of  the  people  seem  to  be  ready  to  echo  similar  sentiments. 


CIVIL   LAW.  485 

(known  now  as  Barout)  was  situated  in  Phoenicia,  not  far 
from  Sidon,  and  was  a  place  distinguished  for  its  law-school 
in  that  day.  At  the  head  of  these  was  Tribonian,  the  chan- 
cellor of  Justinian,  alike  distinguished  by  his  learning  and  his 
want  of  integrity.  The  incessant  labor  of  three  years  was 
devoted  to  the  digest.  Forty  different  works  were  taken  from 
Tribonian's  library,  comprising  three  millions  of  lines  or  sen- 
tences, and  these  were  reduced  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand. The  laws  are  supposed  to  have  been  in  the  short  form 
of  precepts,  and  to  have  contained  commands  or  prohibitions, 
in  all  the  endless  variety  of  cases  which  can  arise  as  to  per- 
sons, property,  offences,  and  crimes.  The  digest,  then,  is  a 
selection  of  all  those  principles  of  justice  which  applied  to 
human  affairs,  as  then  understood,  under  the  imperial  authority 
of  Constantinople.  But,  after  all,  the  work  was  in  a  language 
which  few  of  Justinian's  subjects  could  understand,  even  if  it 
were  accessible  by  them.  The  generality  of  them  already 
spoke  a  barbarous  sort  of  Greek,  at  the  seat  of  empire  and  in 
the  provinces.  The  Latin  had  become  a  language  for  the 
learned.  It  is  probable  that  these  stupendous  labors  were  of 
like  use  to  most  of  the  subjects  of  the  empire,  as  the  laws  of 
Congress  are  to  the  German  population  of  Pennsylvania,  or 
to  the  patriotic  emigrants  from  the  Emerald  Isle. 

The  third  part  of  the  civil  law  consists  of  the  Institutes. 
Of  these,  Justinian  says, — "  As  soon  as,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  this  (the  Code  and  Digest)  was  accomplished,  we  sum- 
moned Tribonian,  our  chancellor,  with  Theophilus  and  Doro- 
theus,  men  of  known  learning  and  tried  fidelity,  whom  we 
enjoined,  by  our  authority,  to  compose  the  following  Institutes, 
that  the  rudiments  of  law  might  be  more  effectually  learned 
by  the  sole  means  of  our  imperial  authority."  The  Institutes 
are,  therefore,  an  introduction  to  the  Code  and  the  Digest,  or 
a  general  elementary  treatise  on  their  contents.  They  contain 
the  principles  of  law  in  four  books :  1.  Persons.  2.  Things. 
3.  Actions.  4.  Private  wrongs  and  criminal  wrongs.  Gibbon 
(44th  chapter)  passes  this  eulogium  on  the  Institutes : — "  The 
same  volume  which  introduced  the  youth  of  Rome,  of  Con- 
stantinople, and  Berytus,  to  the  gradual  study  of  the  Code  and 
Pandects,  is  still  precious  to  the  historian,  the  philosopher,  and 
the  magistrate."  To  preserve  the  civil  law,  as  thus  arranged, 
Justinian  declared  that  any  attempt  to  change,  in  any  respect, 
his  work,  or  even  to  comment  upon  it,  should  involve  the  crime 
of  forgery.  But,  before  six  years  had  elapsed  from  the  publi- 
cation of  the  code,  (that  is,  in  534,)  he  published  a  corrected 
41* 


486  JUSTINIAN. 

edition,  adding-  thereto  two  hundred  new  laws  of  his  own,  and 
"  fifty  decisions  of  the  darkest  and  most  intricate  points  of 
jurisprudence."  [Gibbon,  chap,  xliv.]  Of  these,  one  hundred 
and  sixty-eight  novels  and  thirteen  edicts  have  been  retained, 
which  constitute  the  fourth  part  of  the  civil  law,  (as  now  read,) 
under  the  name  of  Novella,  or  novels,  or  new  laws.  These 
alterations,  for  the  most  part  trifling,  are  said  to  have  arisen 
"  from  the  venal  spirit  of  a  prince,  who  sold,  without  shame, 
his  judgments  and  his  laws."  It  is  in  vain  to  have  laws,  how- 
ever admirable,  unless  there  be  upright  and  learned  magis- 
trates to  administer  them.  The  profligacy  and  corruption  of 
the  times,  in  which  Justinian  and  his  governess,  the  infamous 
Theodora,  fully  partook,  defeated  all  the  beneficent  designs 
which  may  be  attributed  to  the  emperor.  His  subjects  derived 
little  benefit  from  his  laws,  since  the  arbitrary  will  of  himself 
and  of  his  empress  were  superior  to  all  laws.  In  form,  but 
not  in  effect,  the  Justinian  code  continued  in  force  about  three 
hundred  years,  and  was  then  superseded  by  a  feeble  and  muti- 
lated version  in  the  Greek  language,  in  the  time  of  the  empe- 
ror Basil,  called  the  Basilica.  The  Justinian  code  is  the  basis 
of  the  civil  law  among  the  nations  on  the  continent  of  Europe, 
and  is  highly  respected  in  England  and  the  United  States.  It 
is  often  quoted  in  courts  of  justice  in  both  countries. 

Justinian  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-three,  having  reigned 
nearly  thirty-eight  years,  (November  14,  565,)  eight  months 
after  Belisarius.  All  the  description  of  his  person  that  has 
been  met  with,  is,  that  he  was  of  well-proportioned  figure, 
ruddy  complexion,  and  of  pleasing  countenance.  He  excelled 
in  the  virtues  of  chastity  and  temperance.  He  was  abstemi- 
ous; his  repasts  were  short  and  frugal;  he  contented  himself 
with  vegetables  and  water.  He  reposed,  usually,  but  a  single 
hour,  then  rose  and  walked,  or  studied,  till  daylight.  He  pro- 
fessed to  be  musician  and  architect,  poet  and  philosopher,  the- 
ologian and  lawyer.  Yet  his  reign,  taken  altogether,  was 
little  to  his  honor.  His  conquests  were  costly  and  unprofita- 
ble. His  people  were  oppressed  with  exactions  ;  he  ruled  for 
himself  and  Theodora,  and  not  for  them.  He  was  neither 
beloved  in  his  life  nor  regretted  in  his  death.  [Gibbon,  chap, 
xliii.]  Comets,  earthquakes,  and  pestilence,  marked  his  reign. 
The  former,  to  a  superstitious  people,  were  terrible.  In  526, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  persons  are  said  to  have  per- 
ished by  an  earthquake  at  Antioch.  In  531  Berytus  was 
destroyed  ;  many  of  the  first  youth  of  the  empire,  gathered  at 
the  law-school  there,  perished  in  that  convulsion.     Constanti- 


JUSTINIAN.  487 

nople  suffered  severely,  and  a  portion  of  the  church  of  St.  So- 
phia was  thrown  down.  In  542,  Europe  and  Asia  were  vis- 
ited by  the  plague.  It  continued  more  than  fifty  years.  A 
particular  account  is  given  by  Procopius,  before  mentioned, 
who  saw  its  ravages  at  Constantinople.  Justinian  was  among 
the  diseased.  What  the  mortality  may  have  been  in  this  visi- 
tation, may  be  conjectured  from  the  fact,  that  during  the  three 
months  in  which  the  plague  visited  Constantinople,  five  thou- 
sand, and,  at  length,  ten  thousand  were  the  daily  number  of 
victims.  Terror  and  improvidence  brought  the  natural  conse- 
quence, scarcity  of  food ;  and  from  this  cause  calamity  was 
increased. 

The  splendor  and  luxury  of  Constantinople,  in  Justinian's 
time,  imply  agriculture,  commerce,  manual  labor,  and  no  small 
degree  of  industry.  The  arts  must  have  flourished  ;  but  few, 
if  any,  which  are  considered  sciences  as  well  as  arts.  There 
are  no  records  in  honor  of  the  fine  arts.  Manual  labor  was 
conducted  by  slaves,  and  the  cultivation  of  the  earth  was  richly 
repaid  in  portions  of  the  fertile  provinces  in  Asia  Minor,  now 
a  desolate  region,  and  so  to  be  while  the  Turks  are  its  tenants. 
Egypt  was  the  granary  of  this  city  as  well  as  of  Rome. 
Traffic  was  carried  on  with  the  east.  From  the  Phoenicians 
came  the  rich  purple  (extracted  from  a  shell-fish)  which  was 
appropriated  to  royalty.  At  this  time  the  silk- worm  was  in- 
troduced from  China.  Two  monks,  whose  zeal  had  carried 
them  thither,  brought  the  eggs  of  the  silk-worm  in  the  hollow 
of  their  canes,  and  these  were  hatched  by  artificial  heat.  They 
were  thus  brought  into  notice,  were  multiplied,  and  the  ancient 
Peloponessus  of  the  Greeks,  now  called  the  Morea,  became 
celebrated  for  its  silk  manufactures.*  The  products  of  industry 
and  commerce  were  applied  to  the  luxury  of  the  palace,  the 
army,  and  the  church.  Bad  as  this  state  of  society  may  have 
been,  it  was  the  best  that  was  experienced  in  the  eastern 
empire  from  the  time  of  this  emperor  to  its  fall,  in  1453. 

Justin  II.,  a  nephew  of  Justinian,  was  his  successor. 

*  The  name  Morea  is  either  from  a  Greek  word  signifying  tree,  or 
from  the  Latin  morum,  the  mulberry. 


483  HERACLIUS, 


CHAPTER  LXV. 


The  Emperor  Hemclius  and  the  Persians — Restoration  of  the  Holy  Cross 
— Succession  of  Greek  Emperors — Basilican  Code — The  Latin  kingdom 
at  Constantinople. 

After  Justin  II.  came  Mauritius,  or  Maurice ;  and  then 
Phocas,  who  is  represented  to  have  been  alike  odious  in  person 
and  character.  At  this  time  the  war  with  Persia  had  been  so 
disastrous  that  the  Persians  had  approached,  through  Asia  Mi- 
nor, and  had  encamped  within  view,  from  the  walls  of  Con- 
stantinople. A  personal  enemy  of  Phocas  invited  Heraclius, 
a  prefect  of  Africa,  to  come  and  take  the  empire.  Heraclius 
sent  his  son,  of  the  same  name,  with  a  fleet.  Phocas  was  be- 
trayed into  the  hands  of  this  person,  who  put  him  to  death,  and 
ascended  the  throne.  The  reign  of  Heraclius  was  distinguish- 
ed by  some  remarkable  events,  and  some  extraordinary  achieve- 
ments, on  his  part. 

The  Persians  on  the  western  shore  of  Asia  Minor  were  im- 
peded from  approaching  the  walls  of  Constantinople,  only  by 
the  flow  of  waters  which  separate  the  two  continents.  Along 
the  Danube  were  a  barbarian  people  known  by  the  name  of 
Avars,  numerous,  brave,  and  hostile  to  the  Greeks,  though  easi- 
ly purchased,  or  bribed,  to  be  quiet.  But  their  engagements 
were  as  easily  broken ;  and  when  least  expected,  they  might 
appear  as  enemies  even  under  the  walls  of  Constantinople.  The 
military  of  the  empire  were  no  longer  Romans,  but  a  corrupt 
and  seditious  assembly  of  any  and  of  all  surrounding  nations, 
who  had  nothing  better  to  do  than  to  enlist.  The  city  itself 
was  divded  into  inveterate  factions. 

At  this  time,  year  602,  when  Heraclius  became  emperor, 
Chosroes,  the  grandson  of  a  celebrated  king  of  the  same  name, 
was  on  the  Persian  throne.  The  war  which  began  between 
the  elder  Chosroes,  and  Justinian,  had  been  continued,  with  lit- 
tle intermission.  The  Persians  had  found  it  easy  to  penetrate 
to  the  Bosphorus,  though  they  left  in  their  rear  some  fortified 
cities,  which  had  not  submitted  to  their  power.  The  first  im- 
portant information  which  Heraclius  received,  as  emperor,  was, 
that  the  ancient  and  famous  city  of  Antioch,  on  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  near  its  north-eastern  corner, 
had  been  taken  by  the  Persians.  They  thence  turned  their 
arms  to  the  south,  and,  proceeding  along  the  coast  of  Syria, 
took  Cesarea,  and,  at  length,  the  city  of  Jerusalem.     It  is  relat- 


HERACLIUS. 


489 


ed  that  the  patriarch  Zachariah,  and  the  holy  cross,  to  that  time, 
(614,)  preserved  in  that  city,  were  taken,  and  transferred  to 
Persia.  Egypt  was  next  conquered ;  and  the  whole  coast  of 
the  Mediterranean,  from  Egypt  on  the  south  and  west,  around 
to  the  shores  of  the  iEgean  Sea,  and  of  the  Bosphorus,  were 
subjected  to  the  Persian  king.  He  maintained  his  camp  for 
ten  successive  years,  in  full  view  of  Constantinople.  Such 
were  the  difficukies  with  which  Heracliushad  to  contend  ;  and 
who  had  hitherto  shown  no  disposition  to  encounter  them. 
There  remained  nothing  of  the  ancient  grandeur  of  the  empire. 
Its  limits,  on  the  east,  were  the  Bosphorus ;  on  the  west,  the 
very  walls  of  the  city.  Greece,  a  small  part  of  Italy,  the 
African  provinces,  and  some  cities  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the 
Mediterranean,  and  two  or  three  cities  on  the  Black  Sea,  (Tre- 
bezond,  the  principal  one,)  were  all  that  acknowledged  the  Ro- 
man dominion.  The  interior  state  of  things  was  not  less  de- 
plorable, than  the  exterior ;  and  the  last  days  of  the  empire 
seemed  to  have  come.  Yet  the  apparently  careless  and  imbe- 
cile Heraclius,  awaking  from  his  long-continued  apathy,  was 
destined  to  retrieve  his  empire,  and  to  acquire  a  renown  which 
places  him  in  the  rank  of  the  ablest  and  most  effective  gene- 
rals, of  any  age. 

He  began  with  taking  the  treasures  of  the  church,  and  pur- 
chased a  peace  with  the  Avars.  With  the  same  means  he  ob- 
tained new  troops,  though  wholly  undisciplined,  and  composed, 
mostly,  of  barbarians.  The  Persians  had  no  maritime  force, 
and  the  emperor  had  the  command  of  the  sea.  Well  knowing 
what  would  be  his  fate,  if  he  led  his  new  troops  over  the  Hel- 
lespont, and  engaged  with  the  veteran  forces  of  his  enemy,  on 
the  Asiatic  shore,  he  embarked  them,  and  proceeded  to  the 
north-east  corner  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  landed  them  on  the 
shores  of  a  bay  called  Scanderon.  The  place  of  his  encamp- 
ment was  on  the  river  Issus,  where  Alexander  defeated  Darius. 
Here  he  devoted  himself  incessantly  to  the  discipline  of  his 
troops,  sharing  equally  with  them,  the  labor,  their  coarse  fare, 
and  privations.  His  encampment  had  attracted  the  notice  of 
the  Persians,  who  were  not  disposed  to  entangle  their  cavalry 
in  the  defiles  of  the  mountains,  by  which  Heraclius  was  pro- 
tected. When  he  was  prepared,  he  boldly  crossed  these  barri- 
ers, engaged  his  enemies,  and  proved  that  they  were  not  invinci- 
ble. He  encamped,  for  the  winter,  on  the  Halys,  the  largest 
river  of  the  peninsula,  and  leaving  his  army  there,  returned  to 
Constantinople. 

He  gathered  and  disciplined  5000  men,  and  departed,  by  the 


490  HERACLIUS. 

way  of  the  Black  Sea,  to  Trebisond,  an  important  city  near  its 
south-eastern  corner.  He  assembled  the  troops  which  he  had 
left  on  the  Halys,  and,  with  such  auxiliaries  as  he  could  com- 
mand, proceeded  to  Armenia.  Gibbon  says,  that,  "  since  the 
days  of  Scipio  and  Hannibal,  no  bolder  enterprize  has  been  at- 
tempted, than  that  which  Heraclius  achieved  for  the  deliver- 
ance of  his  empire."  To  understand  the  military  career  of 
Heraclius  a  geographical  knowledge  of  the  countries,  in  which 
he  met  his  foes,  is  necessary.  Some  sketches  of  those  coun- 
tries are  contained  in  chapter  LXVI.,  under  the  head  of  Persia. 
Gibbon's  account  of  these  movements  will  be  found  in  his 
XLVI.  chapter. 

Heraclius  passed,  unimpeded,  through  Armenia,  to  the  city 
Tauris,  and  possessed  himself  of  its  treasures.  While  he  was 
here,  the  Persian  king,  Chosroes  II.,  approached  him  with  an 
army,  from  the  south.  The  emperor  offered  battle,  and  also 
offered  to  treat  of  peace,  but  the  king  declined  both,  and  re- 
treated. The  emperor  pursued  his  conquests  towards  the  Cas- 
pian Sea,  and  took  the  town  of  Thebarma,  or  Ormia.  Here 
was  preserved  the  sacred  fire  of  the  Persians,  kindled  by  Zoro- 
aster himself.  This  place  is  said  to  have  been  the  birth-place 
of  this  founder  of  Persian  religion,  if  such  a  person  there  ever 
was.  The  sacred  fire  was  extinguished.  Fifty  thousand  cap- 
tives (taken  in  the  Roman  and  Persian  wars)  were  liberated. 
Heraclius  is  the  first,  and  only  Roman  general,  that,  ever  pene- 
trated to  ihc  city  01  Ispahan.  Meanwhile,  Chosroes  had  recall- 
ed apart  of  his  armies  from  the  Nile  and  the  Bosphorus,  and 
gathered  an  army  from  the  east.  Heraclius  was  exposed  to 
the  attacks  of  three  armies  at  the  same  time;  but  he  defended 
himself  successfully,  and,  by  adroit  generalship,  still  maintain- 
ed his  superiority.  Laden  with  spoils,  and  with  numerous 
prisoners,  he  retired  across  the  Tigris,  and  proceeded  south- 
westwardly,  to  Cilicia,  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  peninsula  of 
Asia  Minor,  having  encountered,  on  his  way,  many  of  the  Per- 
sian forces,  which  still  remained  in  the  countries  they  had  con- 
quered from  the  Romans.  • 

The  Persian  forces  which  remained  on  the  west  shore  of 
Asia  Minor,  and  the  Avars,  had  combined  their  efforts  to  sub- 
due Constantinople,  while  Heraclius  was  absent.  The  city 
was  in  imminent  peril.  Heraclius,  on  being  informed  of  this, 
sent  12,000  chosen  troops,  by  sea,  for  the  defence  of  the  city. 
The  Avars  were  compelled  to  retreat.  Both  the  king,  and  the 
emperor,  were  occupied  with  preparing  for  new  encounters. 
The  king  had  gathered  one  army  of  fifty  thousand,  distinguish- 


HERACLIUS.  491 

ed  as  the  army  of  the  golden  spurs.  A  second  army  was  or- 
ganized to  prevent  the  troops  which  were  under  a  separate 
command  of  Theodorus,  from  joining  the  forces  of  his  brother 
Heraclius.  The  third  army  was  ordered  to  proceed  directly 
to  Constantinople,  and  conquer  that  city.  On  his  part,  Herac- 
lius had  secured  the  alliance  of  the  hordes  of  Tartars,  who 
dwelt  on  the  Volga,  north  of  the  Caucassian  mountains,  and 
who  furnished  him  with  40,000  horse.  A  Persian  general, 
whose  camp  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  Bosphorus,  was  induc- 
ed to  revolt.  Chosroes  had  collected  a  force  in  Media,  and 
Assyria,  of  500,000  men ;  and  thither  Heraclius  proceeded. 
The  armies  met  on  the  plain  (in  the  year  627)  where  were  the 
ruins  of  Nineveh.  The  battle  lasted  from  day-break  to  the 
eleventh  hour  of  the  night,  and  ended  with  the  total  defeat  of 
the  Persians.  By  the  event  of  this  battle,  the  palaces,  and  rich- 
es of  Assyria,  from  the  plains  of  Nineveh  to  within  a  few 
miles  of  Ctesiphon,  became  the  spoil  of  Heraclius,  and  what- 
soever could  not  be  carried  away,  was  either  burnt  or  destroy- 
ed. Many  thousands  of  captives  were  liberated.  The  ap- 
proach of  winter,  and  the  improbability  of  taking  Ctesiphon, 
to  which  Chosroes  had  retired,  induced  Heraclius  to  retreat  to 
Tauris.  The  defeat  of  Chosroes,  raised  a  conspiracy  against 
him,  and  he  was  deposed,  and  confined  in  a  dungeon,  by  his 
own  son  Siroes,  who  assumed  the  crown. 

Peace  was  made  between  Heraclius  and  the  new  king,  who 
surrendered  the  cross  which  had  been  taken  from  Jerusalem. 
All  the  conquests  of  the  Persians  from  the  Romans  were  given 
up,  and  the  former  extent  of  the  empire  resumed.  From  Tau- 
ris to  Constantinople,  Heraclius  proceeded  in  a  continued  tri- 
umph. He  entered  his  capital  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  four  ele- 
phants. This  is  the  only  triumphal  entry,  by  an  emperor,  that 
ever  occurred  in  that  city.  He  had  been  absent  three  years, 
devoted  incessantly  to  the  severest  toil,  and  in  numerous  battles, 
in  which  he  wTas,  sometimes,  in  imminent  peril.  Many  of  his 
foes  fell  by  his  own  hand.  The  name  of  his  horse  (Phallus) 
has  been  handed  down.  In  these  conflicts  he  is  not  supposed 
to  have  been  wounded  but  once,  and  then  slightly.  His  Phal- 
lus was  wounded  in  the  same  battle. 

In  the  next  year,  629,  Heraclius  went  to  Jerusalem,  and 
there,  with  great  splendor,  and  with  pious  ceremonies,  restored 
the  cross  to  its  former  place,  on  mount  Calvary.  This  event  is 
celebrated  in  the  Roman  church  by  an  annual  festival,  called 
the  exaltation  of  the  cross. 

Heraclius  had  married  his  niece,  Martina,  an  ambitious  and 


492  GREEK    EMPERORS. 

unprincipled  woman,  after  his  return  from  Persia,  and  left  chil- 
dren, by  this  and  a  former  marriage,  with  Eudoxia.  He  died 
in  February,  641,  at  an  advanced  age.  During  the  next  sev- 
enty-seven years,  the  history  of  the  empire  discloses  only  a 
series  of  crimes  among  the  descendants  of  Heraclius,  in  their 
contests  for  the  throne.  Murder,  by  assassination  and  poison, 
mutilation  of  the  person  by  cutting  off  the  nose,  and  pulling 
out  the  tongue;  factions,  cabals,  insurrections,  and  ecclesiastic- 
al tyrannies,  are  the  materials  of  history,  which  cannot  be 
used  for  any  purpose  of  instruction,  unless  to  show  how  basely 
and  wickedly  human  beings  can  struggle  for  the  exercise  of 
power. 

In  718,  Leo  III.,  surnamed  the  Isaurian,  from  the  place  of 
his  birth,  became  emperor.  Isauria  was  in  Asia  Minor,  between 
latitudes  37  and  38,  long.  32.  Leo  was  of  very  humble  origin, 
probably  son  of  a  grazier.  He  entered  the  army,  rose  to  distinc- 
tion, and  was  proclaimed  emperor  by  the  soldiers.  He  is  princi- 
pally distinguished  by  his  zeal  to  destroy  the  worship  of  images, 
which,  in  his  time,  had  become  almost  universal  in  the  church. 
The  sect  or  party  of  which  he  was  the  head,  were  called  im- 
age breakers,  which  words,  in  the  Greek,  were  rendered  by 
the  term  Iconoclasts.  He  reigned  34  years,  and  died  peaceably 
in  his  palace. 

Constantine,  (Capronymus,)  the  fifth  of  that  name,  son  of 
Leo,  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  the  different  accounts  which 
history  may  give  of  the  same  person.  Being  an  Iconoclast, 
and  having  pushed  his  zeal,  in  this  matter,  with  extreme  intole- 
rance, ecclesiastical  writers  represent  him  to  have  been  the 
most  profligate,  and  the  most  cruel  monster,  that  ever  appeared 
in  human  form.  Other  historians  admit  him  to  have  been  se- 
vere in  his  persecutions,  and  entitled  to  no  praise  for  his  vir- 
tues ;  but  ascribe  to  him  qualities  of  a  monarch  that  make  him 
respectable.  He  seems  to  have  been  able  to  maintain  his  em- 
pire against  internal  and  external  foes,  and  to  have  contributed 
to  its  prosperity. 

Constantine  the  Sixth,  a  child  under  the  guardianship  of  his 
mother  Irene,  began  his  reign  in  780.  Irene  restored  the  wor- 
ship of  images,  and  went  as  far  in  the  persecution  of  the  Ico- 
noclasts, as  Leo  had  gone  in  the  support  of  them.  This  un- 
natural mother  dethroned  her  son,  and  put  out  his  eyes,  and  had, 
probably,  few  equals  in  the  enormity  of  her  crimes.  She  moved 
through  the  streets  of  Constantinople  drawn  by  four  milk- 
white  steeds,  having  as  many  patricians  to  hold  the  reins,  and 
who  went  on  foot  by  her  golden  chariot.     She  fell  from  this 


GREEK    EMPERORS.  493 

proud  eminence,  and  ended  her  life  under  banishment  to  the 
isle  of  Lesbos ;  where  she  acquired  a  humble  subsistence  by 
the  work  of  her  own  hands. 

Passing  over  several  emperors,  from  the  time  of  Irene,  in 
802,  as  unnecessary  to  be  noticed,  the  first  emperor  that 
attracts  attention  is  Basil,  I.,  who  began  his  reign  in  867, 
and  which  continued  twenty  years.  His  father  was  a  humble 
farmer  near  Adrianople,  about  150  miles  nearly  north-west  of 
Constantinople ;  but  he  was  reputed  to  be  descended  from  the 
royal  house  of  the  Arsacides,  anciently  of  Parthia.  The  moth- 
er of  Basil  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  descendant  of  Constan- 
tine  the  Great.  While  Basil  was  an  infant,  his  native  place 
was  destroyed  by  a  horde  of  Bulgarians  from  the  north,  and 
he  was  carried  away  a  captive,  and  rose  to  manhood  as  a  slave. 
The  number  of  captives  encouraged  them  to  make  a  desperate 
effort  to  free  themselves.  Basil  returned  to  Adrianople  in  pov- 
erty, and  soon  after  went  to  Constantinople,  and  passed  his  first 
night,  in  that  city,  on  the  steps  of  the  church  of  St.  Diomede. 
He  found  employment  with  one  of  the  retinue  of  the  palace, 
and  rose  to  be  an  officer  in  the  imperial  stables.  He  attracted 
the  notice  of  the  emperor  Michael,  and  by  successive  grada- 
tions, was  associated  in  the  imperial  authority ;  and  having 
caused  Michael  to  be  put  to  death,  ascended  the  throne. 

Such  a  course  would  lead  one  to  expect  the  common  exhibi- 
tion of  vices  and  crimes.  It  was  far  otherwise ;  and  Basil  is 
deservedly  ranked  among  the  most  able  and  honorable  of  all 
the  Greek  monarchs.  His  private  life  was  respectable,  and  his 
public  administration  useful,  and  advantageous  to  his  empire. 
He  reformed  abuses,  and  selected  the  most  competent  and  virtu- 
ous for  his  agents.  Though  he  did  not  lead  his  armies  him- 
self, he  gave  the  command  to  deserving  men,  and  the  enemies 
of  the  empire,  both  in  the  east,  and  the  north,  were  once  more 
compelled  to  respect  the  majesty  of  the  Roman  name.  The 
civil  code  of  Justinian  had  become  obsolete,  and  unintelligible 
to  most  of  the  subjects  of  the  empire,  who  knew  only  the 
Greek  language.  He,  therefore,  made  a  new  compilation, 
known  under  the  name  of  Basilica?,  which  his  son,  and  grand- 
son, perfected,  and  which  was  the  law  of  the  empire  until  the 
conquest  of  the  Turks  in  1453.  It  was  made  out  of  the  Jus- 
tinian code. 

The  descendants  of  Basil  held  the  throne  till  the  year  1056, 

with  the  interruption  of  two  usurpations.     This   succession 

was  attended  by  several  murders,  some  of  them  by  violence, 

and  some  of  them  by  poison,  with  many  acts  of  excessive  cru- 

42 


494  GREEK    EMPERORS. 

elty.  The  possession  of  the  throne  depended  on  many  con- 
tingencies. The  son  or  daughter,  the  brother  or  the  nephew, 
might  succeed  as  heir,  or  the  tenant  might  nominate  a  suc- 
cessor. The  army,  the  officers  of  the  palace,  the  populace, 
or  the  widow  of  a  deceased  emperor,  might  fill  the  vacant 
throne,  by  violence  or  intrigue.  The  most  common  of  the 
contingencies  was  that  of  assassination,  poisoning,  banishment, 
imprisonment,  mutilation,  or  some  more  cruel  act,  successfully 
perpetrated  by  some  revengeful  aspirant.  The  power  of  the 
emperor  seems  to  have  been  absolute.  The  offence,  the  law, 
and  condemnation,  and  punishment,  came  in  rapid  succession, 
and  all,  but  the  offence,  from  the  emperor's  will.  As  one  in- 
stance of  the  practices  of  these  days,  the  barbarians,  near  the 
Danube,  had  taken  1 2,000  prisoners,  who  were  in  the  emperor's 
service ;  their  noses  were  cut  off,  and  they  were  sent  back  to 
Constantinople,  thus  mutilated.  Constantine,  emperor  in  969, 
sent  back  to  the  barbarians  some  thousands  of  captives,  divided 
into  companies  of  100,  having  put  out  199  eyes  in  each  compa- 
ny, leaving  one  eye  for  the  use  of  their  guide.  These  are 
some  of  the  atrocious  acts  of  this  age,  but  not,  perhaps,  the 
worst  which  might  be  selected.  The  materials  of  Byzantine 
history  are  very  few.  Such  as  may  have  existed  were,  proba- 
bly, in  the  burning  of  Constantinople — a  loss,  not  much  to  be 
regretted,  in  this  respect. 

Some  volumes  attributed  to  Basil,  and  others,  respectively  at- 
tributed to  his  son,  Leo  VI.,  called  the  philosopher,  and  to  his 
grandson,  Constantine  VII.,  called  porphyrogenitus,  (or  born 
in  the  purple  chamber,)  appear  to  have  been  known  to  Gibbon. 
These  three  emperors  comprise  the  space  between  the  years 
867  and  959,  and  from  these  volumes  some  information  is  ob- 
tained of  the  state  of  the  empire.  The  code  of  laws  called  the 
Basilicse,  is  said,  by  Gibbon,  to  be  a  feeble  version  of  portions 
of  the  Justinian  code,  into  the  Greek.  An  elaborate  account 
is  given  in  these  volumes  of  the  minute  and  burthensome  cere- 
monies of  the  palace,  of  the  military  regulations,  and  of  the 
different  provinces  of  the  empire.  The  riches  of  some  indi- 
viduals are  noticed.  One  instance  is  found  in  the  condition  of 
a  female  called  Danielis,  a  Grecian  matron,  of  Patras,  in  the 
north-western  part  of  the  Peloponessus.  This  matron  is  rep- 
resented to  have  been  a  patroness  of  Basil,  who  was  sent  to 
Greece  at  an  early  period  of  his  life,  and  who  appears  to  have 
enjoyed  her  favor  and  bounty,  after  he  became  emperor.  Among 
her  presents  to  him  were  a  carpet  of  wool,  wrought  of  exceed- 
ing fineness,  and  of  a  pattern  which  imitated  the  spots  of  a 


GREEK    EMPERORS.  495 

peacock's  tail ;  and  of  a  size  adapted  to  cover  the  floor  of  a 
church.  She  gave,  also,  600  pieces  of  silk  and  linen.  The 
silk  was  painted  with  the  Tyrian  dye,  and  adorned  with  the  la- 
bors of  the  needle.  The  linen  was  so  exquisitely  fine,  that  an 
entire  piece  might  be.  rolled  in  the  hollow  of  a  cane.  Another 
present  to  Basil,  was  300  young  men,  as  slaves.  When  Dan- 
ielis  visited  Basil,  at  Constantinople,  she  was  carried  from  Pa- 
tras  thither,  500  miles,  in  a  litter,  attended  by  300  slaves,  who 
relieved  each  other  on  the  way.  At  her  decease,  she  gave  to 
Basil's  son,  Leo,  the  residue  of  her  estates,  which  comprised 
80  farms,  and  3000  slaves.  [Gibbon,  chap,  liii.]  No  sugges- 
tion is  made,  how  a  private  female  should  have  acquired  such 
riches  in  the  ninth  century,  nor  how  the  arts  should  have  at- 
tained to  such  perfection  in  that  place,  and  in  that  age.  This 
was  the  darkest  and  most  barbarous  age  of  western  Europe, 
with  the  exception  of  the  transient  attempts  of  Charlemagne  to 
emerge  from  it.  The  Basilian  (called  also  the  Macedonian) 
dynasty,  terminated  in  the  two  daughters  of  a  great  grandson 
of  the  first  Basil,  Zoe  and  Theodora.  The  former  ranks 
among  the  most  criminal  and  profligate  of  the  many  females 
who  appeared,  from  time  to  time,  on  the  Byzantine  throne. 

There  remain  yet  about  four  centuries  of  the  Greek  empire, 
(1056  to  1453,)  in  which  will  be  found  only  a  repetition  of  the 
same  scenes  of  depravity  and  crime,  in  acquiring,  holding,  and 
losing  the  throne.  It  is  a  singular  fact,  that* in  the  long  lapse 
of  1000  years,  there  seems  not  to  have  been  any  material 
change  in  the  character  of  the  government,  of  the  people,  of 
their  religion,  commerce,  or  occupations,  whether  in  serious 
affairs,  or  in  those  of  pleasure  or  amusement.  While  the  Lat- 
in empire  (so  called)  existed  at  Constantinople,  from  1204  to 
1261,  the  same  course  of  events  continued;  and  if  there  had 
not  been  a  change  of  names,  it  would  seem  to  be  a  continua- 
tion of  the  same  scenes  of  violence,  depravity  and  crimes  of  the 
Greek  empire.  This  general  assumption  admits  of  a  single 
qualification.  There  were  some  persons  who  studied  the  an- 
cient Greek  literature,  from  about  the  commencement  of  the 
eleventh  century.  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus  was  a  patron 
of  learning,  as  were  some  of  his  family  after  him.  Some  of 
the  Comneni  princes  were  versed  in  literature.  Anne  Com- 
nenus,  the  daughter  of  Alexius  I.,  (1081 — 1118,)  was  an  au- 
thoress of  distinction.  She  described  the  reign  of  her  father, 
though  probably  with  more  filial  reverence  than  historical  truth. 
Her  work,  called  the  Alexiad,  is  fully  treated  of  in  Heeren's 
history  of  classical  literature. 


496  THE    COMNENI. 

The  family  of  Comneni  succeeded  the  Basilian  or  Macedo- 
nian dynasty,  on  the  throne  of  Constantinople,  in  1057.  The 
first  was  Isaac  I.,  who  resigned  in  1059,  in  favor  of  Constan- 
tine  Ducas,  who  died  in  1061.  He  left  three  minor  sons,  and 
left  his  widow  Eudocia,  regent.  The  sons  were  Michael,  An- 
dronicus  and  Constantine.  Eudocia,  her  second  husband,  Di- 
ogenes, and  her  sons,  had  given  way  in  1081  to  Alexius  Com- 
nenus  L,  who  died  in  1118.  John,  his  son,  succeeded  him  1118 
— 1143.  Manuel,  his  son,  succeeded  him  1143 — 1180.  Alex- 
ius II.,  his  son,  reigned  from  1180 — 1183,  when  he  was  de- 
throned and  slain  by  Andronicus,  a  grandson  of  Alexius  I. 
With  Andronicus  ends  the  Comneni  family,  in  1185. 

The  fortunes  of  this  Andronicus  were  so  extraordinary  that 
Gibbon  had  devoted  an  unusual  space  to  them,  chap.  XLVIII. 
He  is  represented  to  have  been  brave,  eloquent,  accomplished,  of 
singular  grace  and  beauty,  and  temperate  in  an  extraordinary 
degree  ;  "  with  a  heart  to  resolve,  a  head  to  contrive,  and  a  hand 
to  execute."  The  sister  of  the  empress  was  his  concubine, 
and  preferred  that  relation  to  being  a  wife.  He  attempted  to 
assassinate  the  emperor  Manuel,  and  was  punished  by  imprison- 
ment, which  continued  twelve  years.  He  discovered  in  a  part 
of  the  wall  that  the  bricks  could  be  removed,  and  might  be  re- 
placed, so  as  not  to  change  their  usual  appearance.  Beyond 
this  wall  was  a  recess,  in  which  a  person  might  be  concealed, 
but  beyond  which  he  could  not  go.  Andronicus  removed  the 
bricks,  and,  having  passed  into  the  recess,  was  able  to  replace 
the  bricks,  from  that  position,  so  as  not  to  lead  to  suspicion. 
Not  being  found  in  his  prison,  it  was  believed  that  he  had  es- 
caped; and  his  wife,  or  concubine,  being  suspected  of  having 
aided  him,  was  sent  to  take  his  place.  "  In  the  dead  of  the 
night  she  beheld  a  spectre — she  recognized  her  husband — they 
shared  their  provisions."  By  a  course  of  ingenious  contriv- 
ances he  escaped,  and  fled  to  the  Danube.  There,  after  many 
perils,  he  found  his  way  into  Russia,  and  there  rendered  such 
important  services  to  the  Greek  emperor,  as  to  secure  his  par- 
don. He  again  fell  under  the  displeasure  of  the  emperor,  and 
was  banished  to  Cilicia,  in  Asia  Minor,  but  with  a  military 
command.  Here  his  romantic  amours  brought  him  into  new 
difficulties,  and,  to  escape  the  consequences,  he  undertook  a  pil- 
grimage to  Jerusalem.  New  amours  with  the  widow  of  Bald- 
win, third  king  of  Jerusalem,  (who  was  a  relative  of  the  em- 
peror,) made  Andronicus  more  obnoxious,  and  a  price  was  of- 
fered for  his  head.  He  fled  to  Damascus,  thence  to  Bagdad, 
i    1  Persia,  and,  at  last,  settled  among  the  Turks,  in  Asia  Mi- 


THE    COMNENI.  497 

nor,  the  implacable  foes  of  his  country.  He  employed  himself 
with  a  band  of  outlaws  in  predatory  excursions,  into  the  Ro- 
man empire,  and  raised  for  himself  an  extensive  renown, 
throughout  the  east.  The  attempts  of  the  emperor  to  secure 
his  person  were  unsuccessful ;  but  his  concubine,  the  widow 
Theodora,  and  their  two  children  were  taken,  and  sent  to  Con- 
stantinople. His  next  measure  was  to  manifest  his  penitence, 
and  implore  pardon,  which  was  granted,  and  he  prostrated 
himself  at  the  foot  of  the  throne ;  but  he  was  not  permitted  to 
remain  near  it.  His  place  of  exile  was  on  the  southern  shore 
of  the  Euxine,  and  near  its  eastern  extremity. 

The  death  of  Manuel  was  followed  by  a  civil  war  at  Con- 
stantinople. The  friends  of  Andronicus  ministered  to  his  am- 
bition. He  gathered  a  military  force,  and  proceeded  to  Con- 
stantinople, and  marched,  unopposed,  to  the  throne,  but  not  to 
ascend  it  himself — assuming  only  to  be  the  guardian  of  Manu- 
el's infant  son,  Alexius.  This  unfortunate  child,  and  his  moth- 
er, soon  disappeared.  The  latter  was  made  odious  in  her  fame 
before  life  was  taken,  and  her  body  thrown  into  the  sea.  The 
son  was  strangled  with  a  bow-string.  After  surveying  the 
dead  body,  Andronicus  rudely  struck  it  with  his  foot:  "Thy 
father,"  said  he,  "  was  a  knave,  thy  mother  a  prostitute,  and  thy- 
self a  fool." 

The  ancient  proverb,  "  blood-thirsty  is  the  man  who  returns 
from  banishment  to  power,"  was  verified  by  the  emperor  An- 
dronicus, in  the  use  of  poison,  and  the  sword,  the  sea,  and  the 
flames.  Alexius  Angelus,  a  descendant  of  Alexius  the  first, 
was  marked  as  a  victim.  In  a  moment  of  despair,  he  slew  the 
executioner  who  approached  him,  and  fled  to  the  church  of  St. 
Sophia.  A  mournful  crowd  was  assembled  there,  whose  la- 
mentations soon  turned  to  curses,  and  curses  to  threats.  At  the 
dawn  of  the  day  the  city  burst  into  sedition,  and  in  the  general 
clamor  Isaac  Angelus  was  raised  to  the  throne.  Andronicus 
was  absent,  at  one  of  the  islands  of  the  Propontis.  He  hurri- 
ed to  the  city,  found  it  full  of  commotion,  the  palace  deserted, 
and  himself  forsaken  by  all  mankind.  He  attempted  to  escape 
by  sea.  His  galley  was  overtaken,  and  he  was  brought,  in 
chains,  before  the  new  emperor.  He  was  placed  astride  on  a 
camel,  and  conducted  through  the  city,  subjected  to  blows,  and 
outrages  ;  and  then  hung  alive  by  the  feet,  between  the  pillars 
that  supported  the  figures  of  a  wolf  and  a  sow.  All  whom 
he  had  robbed  of  a  father,  a  husband,  or  a  friend,  were  allowed 
to  take  vengeance.  "  His  teeth,  hair,  an  eye,  and  a  hand,  were 
torn  from  him,  as  a  poor  compensation  for  their  losses."  His 
42* 


498  TUE    ANGELII. 

prolonged  agony  was  terminated  by  two  furious  Italians,  who 
plunged  their  swords  into  his  body.     [Gibbon,  chap,  xlviii.] 

This  painful  narrative  (much  abridged  from  Gibbon)  is  in- 
troduced, not  to  show  the  fortunes  and  the  fate  of  Andronicus, 
but  as  an  illustration  of  the  manners  and  morals  of  Constanti- 
nople, at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century. 

The  family  of  Angelus.  Isaac  II.,  who  dethroned  Andron- 
icus, was  the  grandson  of  Constantine  Angelus,  who  had  mar- 
ried a  princess  of  the  Comneni  family.  Isaac  was  dethroned 
by  his  brother  Alexius,  in  1195,  imprisoned,  and  deprived  of 
sight;  but  Alexius  was  dethroned  himself  in  1203,  and  his 
blind  brother  restored  to  the  throne.  While  Isaac  was  in  pris- 
on, and  his  brother,  Alexius  III.,  was  on  the  throne,  Alexius, 
son  of  Isaac,  applied  to  the  French  and  Venetians,  who  were 
engaged  in  the  year  1201,  at  Venice,  in  preparing  for  a  crusade 
to  Palestine.  Young  Alexius  offered  great  inducements  to  the 
crusaders,  to  postpone  their  enterprise  towards  the  east,  and  to 
aid  him  in  expelling  his  uncle,  and  in  obtaining  the  throne  for  - 
his  father  and  himself. 

A  treaty  had  been  made  between  the  French  and  Venetians. 
The  latter  were  to  transport  4,500  horses,  9000  squires,  4,500 
knights,  and  20,000  foot  soldiers;  and  supply  a  fleet  of  50  gal- 
lies.  The  French  were  to  pay  85,000  marks  of  silver,  and  all 
conquests  were  to  be  equally  divided.  In  the  following  year 
the  treaty  was  carried  into  effect,  Boniface,  marquis  of  Montfer- 
rat,  being  the  chosen  chief  of  the  French  party,  among  which 
was  a  body  of  his  own  Italians.  The  counts  of  Flanders,  and 
Blois,  were  next  in  command.  On  the  part  of  the  Venetians,  the 
doge  Henry  Dandolo,  then  blind,  and  more  than  80  years  of  age, 
took  the  command.  A  serious  difficulty  arose.  The  French 
could  pay  only  34,000  marks  instead  of  85,000.  Dandolo  pro- 
posed, that  the  city  of  Zara,  on  the  opposite  coast  of  Dal- 
matia,  which  had  revolted  from  Venice,  should  be  taken,  by 
the  joint  forces,  and  the  deficiency  made  up  from  the  spoils. 
The  city  was  taken.  Then  the  allies  (the  Venetians  in  hope 
of  extending  their  commerce,  fhe  French  in  hope  of  plunder) 
proceeded  to  Constantinople  in  April,  1203.* 

On  the  6th  of  July  (1203)  the  crusaders  landed  at  Scutari, 
opposite  to  Constantinople,  and  prepared  to  cross  the  Bospho- 
rus.  The  details  of  this  valiant  assault  are  too  long  to  find  a 
place  here.  At  the  end  of  ten  days  the  city  was  taken  ;  the 
blind  Dandolo,  having  been  the  first  of  the  Venetians  to  find  a 

*  See  Gibbon's  chap.  LX.  for  a  description  of  this  splendid  armament. 


THE    LATIN    KINGDOM.  499 

footing  on  the  shore,  and  among  the  first  to  salute  the  blind 
emperor  on  his  restoration  to  the  throne.  The  suburbs  of 
Galata  and  Para,  ori  the  north-east  side  of  the  port,  were  as- 
signed to  the  French  and  Venetians.  The  demands  of  the 
invaders  were  so  exorbitant,  that  the  emperor  and  his  son 
Alexius  dared  not  to  comply  with  them.  Attempts  to  treat 
and  compromise  ended  in  mutual  threats  of  hostility.  The 
indignant  Greeks  expelled  both  the  emperor  and  his  son,  and 
sought  for  some  one  who  would  maintain  their  independence. 
The  throne  was  offered  to  many,  and  rejected.  At  length,  a 
person  of  the  house  of  Ducas,  called  Alexius,  and  surnamed 
Marzoufle,  assumed  the  command,  poisoned  or  strangled  the 
young  Alexius,  and  his  blind  father  soon  after  died. 

Under  Marzoufle,  called  Alexius  V.,  preparation  was  made 
for  defence.  Three  months,  January  to  April,  1204,  were 
devoted  by  the  French  and  Venetians  to  besieging  the  city. 
A  more  perilous,  obstinate,  and  valiant  enterprise,  is  not  record- 
ed in  history,  than  that  of  the  allies  in  taking  this  city ;  not 
from  the  skill  and  bravery  of  its  defenders,  but  from  its 
strength.  The  numbers  of  the  Greeks  were  sufficient,  even 
when  the  city  was  taken,  to  have  overwhelmed  the  invaders. 
But  the  character  of  Romans  had  long  been  lost;  and,  instead 
of  resistance,  the  invaders  received,  in  the  morning  after  their 
conquest,  a  suppliant  embassy.  Though  the  city  had  experi- 
enced some  destructive  conflagrations,  the  spoils  surpassed  all 
expectation.  After  deducting  fifty  thousand  marks  from  the 
share  of  the  French,  for  their  debt  to  the  Venetians,  their  half 
equalled  four  hundred  thousand  marks.  The  use  which  the 
conquerors  made  of  their  power  is  narrated  by  an  eye-witness, 
Nicetas.  His  palace  had  been  reduced  to  ashes  in  the  second 
conflagration.  His  family  and  friends  found  an  asylum  in  an 
obscure  mansion,  which  a  friend,  a  Venetian  merchant,  in  the 
disguise  of  a  soldier,  guarded,  until  Nicetas  had  prepared  to 
escape,  with  the  relics  of  his  fortune,  his  wife  and  daughters. 
On  foot,  and  bearing  their  own  burthens,  this  senator  and  his 
family  escaped  from  the  city,  and  found  no  place  of  safety  or 
repose  till  they  had  travelled  forty  miles.  On  their  way  they 
overtook  the  patriarch,  unattended,  almost  naked,  and  riding 
on  an  ass. 

Besides  the  barbarous  outrages  inflicted  on  persons  and  on 
private  property,  the  public  monuments  were  broken  down 
and  destroyed  ;  the  churches  plundered  and  profaned  ;  but  that 
loss,  which  is  felt  to  the  present  time,  was  the  destruction  of  the 
volumes  and  manuscripts  which  had  been  gathering,  through 


500  THE    LATIN    KINGDOM. 

many  ages,  in  this  splendid  city.  Besides  the  narration  of 
Nicetas,  there  is  one  from  a  Frenchman,  Villehardouin,  who 
accompanied  the  invaders.  According  to  Heeren,  in  his  Essay 
on  the  Crusades,  (p.  408,  &c.,)  the  second  fire  continued  not 
less  than  two  days  and  nights,  (Nicetas,)  or  a  whole  week, 
(Villehardouin.)  It  began  on  the  north-east  side  of  the  city, 
near  the  port,  and  extended,  uncontrolled,  through  the  city  a 
full  league,  to  the  Propontis,  comprising  the  richest  and  most 
beautiful  quarters.  Nicetas  says, — "  That  all  the  conflagra- 
tions which  the  city  had  ever  experienced,  were  nothing  com- 
pared to  this."  This  calamity  preceded  the  dethronement  of 
Isaac  and  his  son  Alexius,  by  Marzoufle,  and  was  one  cause 
of  that  revolution,  from  the  popular  excitement.  When  the 
city  was  taken,  in  April,  1204,  Heeren  thus  speaks  of  the 
complicated  misery : — "  All  the  horrors  of  sacking — all  that 
a  thirst  for  gold — all  that  religious  hatred — all  that  the  rage 
and  brutality  of  an  unrestrained  soldiery  could  inflict,  Con- 
stantinople was  doomed  to  suffer.  A  third  conflagration,  as 
terrible  as  the  two  former,  laid  waste  the  eastern  part  of  the 
city,  the  only  part  that  remained.  Whatever  the  flames  spared, 
was  the  prey  of  the  brigands,  whom  pillage  had  only  made 
more  ravenous."  He  cites  Villehardouin  as  saying  that  more 
houses  were  destroyed  than  were  then  contained  in  any  three 
of  the  largest  cities  of  Europe.  Nicetas  sought  a  refuge  at 
Nice,  in  .Asia  Minor,  where  his  account  is  supposed  to  have 
been  written,  and  where  he  died,  two  years  after,  (Heeren 
says,)  doubtless  from  the  afflictions  which  these  events  had 
occasioned. 

There  remains  a  valuable  memorial  from  the  hand  of  the 
patriarch  Photius,  composed  about  two  hundred  years  before 
the  taking  of  Constantinople,  from  which  some  measure  of 
literary  loss  may  be  obtained.  This  work  contains  extracts 
and  critical  notices  of  books  in  his  possession.  It  is  thus 
known  that  Photius  had  the  history  of  Macedonia,  by  Theo- 
pompus ;  Arien's  history  of  the  Parthians,  of  Bythinia,  and 
of  the  successors  of  Alexander ;  Ctesias'  history  of  Persia, 
and  description  of  India,  and  the  geography  of  Agatharchides.* 
The  whole  of  Diodorus  of  Sicily,  (therefore  called  Siculus.) 
who  wrote  in  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar  and  Augustus.  He 
called  his  work  the  Historical  Library,  in  forty  books,  of 
which  one  to  five,  and  sixteen  to  twenty,  only  remain.  The 
whole  of  Polybius,  a  Greek  historian,  who  wrote  two  hundred 

*  There  are  only  some  disconnected  fragments  of  these  works. 


THE    LATIN    KINGDOM.  501 

years  B.  C,  from  the  beginning  of  the  second  Punic  war  to 
the  end  of  the  Macedonian  empire,  fifty-three  years,  in  thirty- 
eight  books,  of  which  the  first  five  remain,  and  some  fragments 
of  the  others.  The  whole  of  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus, 
(Asia  Minor,)  who  wrote,  about  twenty  years  B.  C,  twenty 
books,  from  the  early  history  of  Rome  to  the  first  Punic  war, 
of  which  the  first  eleven,  and  some  fragments  of  the  others, 
remain.  Instead  of  forty-five,  there  were  sixty-five  orations  of 
Demosthenes ;  two  hundred  and  three  of  Lysias,  instead  of 
thirty-four ;  sixty-four  of  Iseus,  instead  of  ten  ;  fifty-two  of 
Hyperides,  instead  of  one.  From  this  accidental  notice  of 
Photius,  it  is  supposed  that  there  probably  were  many  other 
works  in  this  city,  the  loss  of  which  is  much  to  be  regretted. 
The  four  works,  first  mentioned,  might  have  disclosed  many 
interesting  facts  in  eastern  history. 

The  Greek  princes  having  disappeared,  the  conquerors  es- 
tablished an  empire  for  themselves.  Twelve  electors  were 
selected  to  choose  a  king,  who  agreed  on  Baldwin,  count  of 
Flanders  and  Hainault.  The  bishop  of  Soissons  announced 
the  unanimous  choice.  He  was  crowned  in  May,  1204,  and 
the  Latin  kingdom  then  began.  Innocent  III.,  in  answer  to 
notice  from  Baldwin,  of  this  revolution,  inculcates  obedience 
and  tribute  from  the  Greeks  to  the  Latins,  from  the  magistrate 
to  the  clergy,  and  from  the  clergy  to  the  pope.  One  fourth  of 
the  Greek  empire  was  appropriated  to  the  new  king ;  one  half 
of  the  remainder  to  Venice,  and  the  other  to  the  French  and 
Lombard  adventurers.  Dandolo  was  declared  despot  of  Ro- 
mania, (the  territory  next  to  the  Adriatic,)  and  invested  with 
the  purple  buskins.  His  powers  were  exercised  by  a  regent. 
He  died  at  Constantinople.  That  which  the  Venetians  con- 
sidered as  most  important  to  them,  was  the  selection  of  those 
parts  of  the  empire  which  would  best  promote  their  commer- 
cial pursuits,  a  purpose  not  interfering  with  their  allies.  They 
purchased  of  the  marquis  of  Montferrat,  for  ten  thousand 
marks,  the  island  of  Crete  or  Candia.  Greece,  Thessalonica, 
and  Macedonia,  were  also  a  part  of  his  share.  Thus,  the 
Greek  empire  was  parcelled  out  among  a  comparatively  small 
number  ;  a  measure  not  easily  effected  by  agreement,  but  more 
easily  apportioned  than  held. 

The  fate  of  Alexius  (Marzoufle)  was  this  : — He  was  first 
deprived  of  his  eyes,  among  his  Greek  connexions;  then  strip- 
ped and  turned  out  to  wander,  as  a  marked  murderer  of  an 
emperor  and  his  son.  While  seeking  to  escape  into  Asia,  he 
was  taken  by  the  Latins,  carried  to  Constantinople,  condemned 


602  THE    LATIN    KINGDOM. 

to  ascend  the  Theodosian  column  of  one  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  feet  in  height,  and  to  be  thence  cast  headlong  to  the 
pavement. 

In  the  following  year,  1205,  the  Greeks  had  induced  the 
king  of  Bulgaria  to  aid  them  in  an  attack  on  the  Latins. 
Baldwin  moved  towards  Adrianople,  to  encounter  this  new  foe. 
He  was  taken  prisoner.  His  fate  is  not  certainly  known. 
The  conjectures  are  stated  in  Gibbon,  chapter  LXI.  He  did 
not  return  to  Constantinople.  A  year  elapsed  before  his  suc- 
cessor, Henry,  (who  was  his  brother,)  would  consent  to  be 
crowned.  In  the  following  year,  Boniface,  count  of  Montfer- 
rat,  (now  called  king  of  Thessalonica,)  fell  in  the  same  Bul- 
garian war.  The  Greeks,  finding  the  friendship  of  the  Bul- 
garians more  afflictive  than  the  enmity  of  the  Latins,  volunta- 
rily submitted,  and  peace  was  made.  Henry  appears  to  have 
maintained  his  difficult  station  with  prudence  and  ability,  about 
ten  years,  when  he  died ;  and  in  him  the  male  line  of  the 
counts  of  Flanders  was  extinct.  Their  sister,  Yolande,  had 
married  Peter  Courtenay,  a  Frenchman,  count  of  Auxerre. 
He  was  invited  to  succeed  Henry  in  1217.  But  this  person, 
in  attempting  to  pass  from  France,  by  way  of  Venice  and  the 
mountains  of  Thessalonica,  to  Constantinople,  was  made  pris- 
oner by  some  rebels  in  that  quarter,  and  never  reached  his 
destination.  His  widow,  Yolande,  reigned  with  ability  during 
her  son  Robert's  minority.  When  he  came  to  the  throne,  the 
Greeks  recovered  the  whole  kingdom,  the  city  only  excepted. 
During  the  minority  of  his  son,  Baldwin  II.,  John  of  Brien 
was  regent.  He  was  titular  king  of  Jerusalem,  and  son-in- 
law  of  "Frederick  II.  of  Germany.  He  died  at  an  advanced 
age,  and  Baldwin  took  the  throne.  He  was  employed  not  in 
the  performance  of  duties  at  Constantinople,  but  in  going  from 
court  to  court,  in  the  west  of  Europe,  to  ask  aid  against  the 
Greeks.  He  returned  to  Constantinople,  and  made  a  feeble 
effort  to  resist  the  increasing  power  of  the  Greeks,  and  was, 
at  length,  fortunate  in  escaping  to  Italy,  where  he  continued  to 
live  several  years.  The  title  to  the  throne  of  the  Latin  king- 
dom passed  to  the  kings  of  France,  by  the  marriage  of  his 
grand-daughter  with  Charles  of  Valois,  brother  of  Philip  the 
Fair,  king  of  France.  Baldwin  II.  was  the  last  of  the  'Latin 
kings. 


GREEK    EMPIRE. 


CHAPTER  LXVI. 


503 


Greek  Empire — -Military  Adventurers — Succession  of  Emperors — Attack 
of  the  Turks — Bajaret — Conciliation  of  Greek  and  Latin  Churches — 
Siege  and  taking  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks — Note  on  the  Greek 
Church. 

From  the  end  of  the  Latin  empire  at  Constantinople,  to  the 
destruction  of  the  Greek  empire,  there  were  ten  emperors,  and 
one  hundred  and  ninety-two  years,  (1261 — 1453.)  The  dura- 
tion of  the  empire  for  so  many  years,  did  not  arise  from  the 
ability  of  the  emperors  nor  the  power  of  the  people,  to  resist 
the  causes  of  decline  and  final  overthrow,  but  from  the  diver- 
sion of  their  enemies  to  other  objects.  The  history  of  these 
one  hundred  and  ninety-two  years  is  destitute  of  interest ;  nor 
can  any  regret  be  felt  for  the  disappearance  of  a  once  mighty 
empire,  which  had  endured  eleven  hundred  and  twenty-three 
years,  including  the  fifty-seven  of  the  Latin  dominion.  The 
new  masters  of  Constantinople  were  not  the  inferiors  of  the 
Greeks  in  any  of  the  qualities  which  deserve  respect ;  nor 
even  in  religion  and  its  prescribed  duties,  though  the  Greeks 
called  themselves  Christians. 

In  the  revolutions  of  the  palace  at  Constantinople,  some 
princes  of  the  royal  families  escaped  into  Asia  Minor.  Some 
of  the  family  of  Angeli  and  of  Comneni  had  established  them- 
selves in  small  sovereignties  there ;  the  Comneni  at  Trebi- 
zond,  on  the  south-east  corner  of  the  Black  Sea ;  the  Angeli 
at  Nice,  situate  near  the  east  end  of  an  arm  of  the  Marmora, 
about  eighty  miles  south-east  of  Constantinople.  The  little 
kingdom  of  Nice  was  founded  by  Theodorus  Lascaris,  who 
married  a  daughter  of  Alexius  Angelus,  the  same  who  de- 
throned his  brother  Isaac,  and  who  was  on  the  throne  in  1204, 
when  the  crusaders  took  Constantinople.  Another  daughter 
of  this  Alexius  had  married  a  Palasologus,  and  from  this  mar- 
riage came  Michael  Palasologus ;  from  that  of  Lascaris  and 
the  other  daughter  came  Irene,  who  married  John  Ducas, 
surnamed  Vataces ;  and  his  son  John  was  considered  heir  of 
the  crown  of  Nice.  Being  a  minor,  Michael  Palaeologus  was 
his  guardian,  and  regent ;  and,  availing  himself  of  this  rela- 
tion, he  deprived  John  of  sight,  and  usurped  the  throne.  The 
possession  of  the  crown  of  Nice  appears  to  have  implied  a 
title  to  that  of  Constantinople.     When  the  city  was  taken  from 


504  GREEK    EMPIRE. 

the  Latins,  Michael  went  thither,  and  placed  himself  on  the 
throne,  and  was  the  first  of  the  sovereigns  after  the  Latins 
were  expelled,  July,  1261.  "  After  the  first  transport  of  devo- 
tion and  pride,  he  sighed  at  the  dreary  prospect  of  solitude 
and  ruin.  The  palace  was  defiled  with  smoke  and  dirt,  and 
the  intemperance  of  the  Franks ;  whole  streets  had  been  con- 
sumed by  fire,  or  decayed  by  the  injuries  of  time  ;  the  sacred 
and  profane  edifices  were  stripped  of  their  ornaments ;  the 
industry  of  the  Latins  had  been  confined  to  the  work  of  pil- 
lage and  destruction." 

The  reign  of  Michael  was  remarkable,  principally  for  the 
censures  of  the  patriarch,  drawn  forth  by  Michael's  treatment 
of  John,  whose  place  Michael  had  usurped.  2.  For  ecclesi- 
astical schisms.  3.  The  invasion  of  the  empire  by  Charles 
of  Anjou,  who  had  made  himself  master  of  the  kingdom  of 
Naples.  4.  The  employment  of  "the  great  company,"  or 
military  adventurers,  to  resist  the  Turks. 

The  patriarch  of  Constantinople  exercised  an  authority  like 
that  of  the  pope  ;  and  his  excommunication  of  Michael  pro- 
duced a  penitence  resembling  that  which  Gregory  VII.  im- 
posed on  Henry  IV.  of  Germany.  The  ecclesiastical  state  of 
the  empire  will  require  a  short  notice  in  another  place. 

The  possession  of  the  Neapolitan  throne  by  Charles  of  An- 
jou, (brother  of  Louis  IX.  of  France,)  attracted  numerous 
warlike  adventurers.  Charles  believed  himself  powerful 
enough  to  conquer  Africa,  Greece,  and  Palestine.  In  notices 
of  Italy,  John  of  Procida  was  mentioned  as  the  industrious 
enemy  of  Charles,  and  as  the  author  of  "  the  Sicilian  Ves- 
pers." Procida  consulted  the  emperor  Michael,  and  warned 
him  of  his  danger,  and  obtained  from  the  emperor  money  and 
counsel.  By  these  means  the  Catalan,  or  Spanish  expedition, 
was  undertaken  against  Sicily ;  and  if  the  emperor  did  not 
suggest  the  massacre  at  Sicily,  it  was  known  to  him  to  have 
been  intended,  and  had  his  approbation.  It  proved  to  be  an 
effectual  measure  in  defeating  the  designs  of  Charles  against 
the  Greek  empire. 

The  companies  of  military  adventurers,  who  let  themselves 
to  the  highest  bidders,  and  who  were  the  terror  of  Italy  in  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  have  already  been  men- 
tioned. After  the  fall  of  Charles  of  Anjou,  and  about  the  year 
1303,  a  numerous  company,  under  the  command  of  Roger  de 
Flor,  sailed  from  Sicily  for  Constantinople,  to  aid  the  emperor 
against  the  Turks.  They  crossed  into  Asia  Minor  and  de- 
feated the  Turks,  but  treated  the  subjects  of  the  empire  as  a 


GREEK    EMPIRE.  505 

conquered  people.  It  was  soon  found  that  the  protection  of 
these  friends  was  far  more  distressing  than  any  evils  which 
could  be  inflicted  by  their  infidel  enemies.  According  to  the 
moral  code  of  that  age,  the  remedy  was  the  assassination  of 
Roger  de  Flor,  the  chief.  The  emperor  attempted,  next,  to 
drive  these  adventurers  away  by  sending  against  them  a  force 
outnumbering  their  own,  twenty  to  one;  but  this  force  was 
disgracefully  defeated.  Perhaps  the  empire  might  have  been 
subdued,  if  discord  had  not  arisen  among  the  adventurers,  and 
if  it  had  been  possible  to  supply  themselves  with  provisions. 
They  retraced  their  steps  towards  the  west,  intending  to  pos- 
sess themselves  of  Greece. 

When  the  Latins  divided  the  territories  of  the  empire,  a 
principality,  including  Athens  and  Thebes,  fell  to  Otho  de  la 
Roche,  one  of  the  followers  of  Boniface,  marquis  of  Montfer- 
rat.  In  the  fourth  descent  from  Otho,  Walter  de  Brienne  was 
duke  of  Athens,  when  the  company  of  adventurers  approach- 
ed, now  reduced  to  thirty-five  hundred  horse  and  four  thousand 
foot.  The  duke  met  them  with  seven  hundred  knights,  sixty- 
four  hundred  horse,  and  eight  thousand  foot ;  but  the  duke 
was  entirely  defeated,  and  most  of  his  army  slain.  The  ad- 
venturers took  possession,  and  married  the  widows  and  daugh- 
ters of  the  slain.  The  descendants  of  Otho  were  expelled. 
In  his  flight,  Walter  de  Brienne  passed  through  Italy,  and  is 
the  same  person  whom  the  Florentines  placed  at  the  head  of 
their  army,  and  who  is  known  in  the  history  of  that  republic 
as  "  the  Duke  of  Athens  and  Tyrant  of  Florence." 

The  fate  of  Athens  was  determined  by  the  sultan  Mahomet 
II.,  who  strangled  the  last  duke,  and  educated  his  sons  as 
Mussulmen.   (1456.) 

The  close  of  Michael's  life  was  afflicted  and  disgraced  by 
civil  wars,  in  which  himself,  son,  and  grandson  were  parties 
and  enemies.  Andronicus,  the  son,  and  the  grandson  of  the 
same  name,  occupied  the  throne  till  the  year  1341.  There  is 
not  a  fact  (disregarding  their  own  crimes  and  follies)  which 
deserves  notice  while  these  persons  reigned.  Meanwhile,  the 
Turks  had  approached  to  the  shores  of  the  Bosphorus.  The 
younger  Andronicus  left  two  sons,  John  and  Manuel,  minors, 
of  whom  John  Cantacuzenus  became  guardian.  The  guar- 
dian despoiled  his  wards  of  the  throne,  after  a  long  and  afflic- 
tive civil  war.  In  1355  he  was  compelled  to  abdicate,  and 
retire  to  a  monastery,  the  rightful  heir,  John,  having  been  pro- 
claimed by  the  people.  This  appears  to  have  been  a  period 
of  gross  superstition  and  of  clerical  tyranny.  Heresies,  not 
43 


506  GREEK    EMPIRE. 

unlike  those  at  the  same  time  prevailing  in  the  west,  disturbed 
the  repose  of  the  east.  In  addition  to  these  dissensions,  the 
Turks  were  continually  growing  stronger,  as  the  power  to 
resist  declined.  The  Pisans,  Venetians,  and  Genoese,  estab- 
lished within  the  suburbs  of  the  city,  were  no  less  dreaded 
than  the  Turks. 

The  Genoese  had  gradually  expelled  their  rivals  in  com- 
merce, and  had  enclosed  their  settlement  on  the  north-east  side 
of  the  port,  Galata,  with  walls,  and  then  secured  their  position 
by  fortresses.  Their  strength  and  the  imbecility  of  the  em- 
peror, encouraged  them,  in  the  time  of  Cantacuzenus,  (1348,) 
to  find  a  pretext  for  hostilities.  The  Greeks  were  compelled 
to  seek  the  alliance  of  the  Venetians.  In  February,  1352,  a 
memorable  battle  was  fought  under  the  walls  of  the  city,  by 
the  hostile  fleets,  the  Genoese  on  the  one  side,  the  Venetians 
and  Greeks  on  the  other,  in  which  the  latter  were  defeated, 
leaving  the  Genoese  the  sovereigns  of  the  sea.  The  maritime 
war  of  the  two  republics  continued,  with  little  intermission, 
for  one  hundred  and  thirty  years,  when  Venice  drove  Genoa 
from  the  seas;  a  destiny  not  likely  to  have  occurred,  if  the 
latter  had  not  been  enfeebled  by  internal  factions  in  their  own 
city,  at  home. 

John  Cantacuzenus  (who  had  supplanted  John  Palaeologus 
in  1341,  and  abdicated  the  throne  in  1355)  retired  to  a  monas- 
tery, where  he  employed  himself  in  writing  a  memoir  of  his 
own  time,  which  appears  to  have  been  among  the  historical 
materials  consulted  by  Gibbon.  John  Palaeologus  having 
been  re-established,  held  the  throne  from  that  time  till  1391, 
and  is  described  by  Gibbon  as  "  the  helpless,  if  not  the  care- 
less, spectator  of  the  public  ruin."  In  the  early  part  of  this 
emperor's  reign,  the  Turks  established  themselves  in  Europe, 
by  crossing  the  Hellespont  to  the  Thracian  city  of  Galliopolis, 
which  was  taken  by  them.  It  was  considered  to  be  the  key 
of  Greece,  and  even  of  Europe.  Gallipoli  is  on  the  Euro- 
pean shore,  at  the  outlet  of  the  sea  of  Marmora,  about  one 
hundred  miles  south-west  of  Constantinople.  Possessed  of 
this  strong  hold,  the  Turks  extended  themselves  northwardly 
towards  the  Black  Sea,  circumscribing  the  remnant  of  the 
empire  to  a  space  of  fifty  miles  by  thirty,  of  which  the  city  of 
Constantinople  was  at  the  extreme  eastwardly  point.  The 
seat  of  government  of  the  Turks  in  Europe,  was  the  city  now 
called  Adrianopolis,  (about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  nearly 
north-west  of  Constantinople,)  situate  on  the  river  anciently 
called  the  Hebrus,  and  now  called  the  Marisa,  and  which  runs 


GREEK    EMPIRE.  507 

south  from  Adrianopolis,  and  empties  into  the  Archipelago, 
fifty  miles  north-west  of  Gallipoli.  At  this  time,  Amurath  I. 
was  the  sultan  of  the  Turks,  having  dominion  on  both  sides 
of  the  waters  which  separate  Asia  and  Europe,  excepting  the 
remnant  of  the  Greeks.  It  is  supposed  that  the  only  reason 
why  Amurath  did  not  subdue  this  remnant,  or  attempt  to  do  it, 
was  the  apprehension  that  he  might  thereby  combine  the  west 
of  Europe  against  him.  He  contented  himself  with  treating 
the  feeble  emperor  of  the  Greeks  as  his  vassal. 

Sauses,  the  son  of  Amurath,  and  Andronicus,  the  son  of  the 
emperor  John,  met  at  Adrianople  and  formed  an  intimacy ; 
they  conspired  to  dethrone  their  respective  fathers.  Their 
designs  having  been  made  known  to  Amurath,  he  deprived  his 
son  of  his  eyes,  and  required  of  John  to  inflict  the  like  pun- 
ishment on  Andronicus.  Andronicus  had  a  son  called  John, 
who  was  included  in  this  punishment,  and  deprived  of  his  sight. 
The  two  blinded  Greek  princes  were  shut  up  in  the  tower  of 
Anema.  Their  punishment  was  so  inflicted,  from  design  or 
accident,  that  the  sight  of  one  eye  was  left  to  one  of  them,  and 
the  sight  of  the  other  prince  was  only  impaired.  The  empe- 
ror John  associated  his  second  son,  Manuel,  with  him  on  the 
throne.  Such  were  the  vicissitudes  of  royal  life,  in  this  shadow 
of  an  empire,  that,  within  two  years,  the  two  emperors  were 
consigned  to  the  same  tower  of  Anema,  and  the  two  half- 
blinded  princes  raised  to  the  throne.  But,  within  another  two 
years,  the  prisoners  had  escaped,  and  the  grandfather,  his  two 
sons,  and  grandson,  engaged  in  a  furious  civil  war  for  the 
mastery,  and  compromised  their  contest  by  a  partition  of  the 
small  territory,  which  was  all  that  remained  of  the  Roman 
empire.  The  grandfather  and  his  son  Manuel  had  the  capital, 
with  very  little  space  beyond  the  walls,  and  the  two  blind 
princes  divided  the  residue  between  themselves.  When  the 
grandfather,  John,  died,  in  1391,  Manuel  was  a  visiter  in  the 
court  of  Bajazet,  (the  successor  of  Amurath,)  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  Bosphorus.  The  sultan  had  resolved  on  the  con- 
quest of  Constantinople,  and  was  mortified  that  Manuel  had 
succeeded  in  escaping  from  his  power,  on  having  secret  intelli- 
gence of  his  father's  death.  The  sultan  considered  himself 
sufficiently  powerful  to  meet  the  forces  of  the  west,  if  his  con 
quest  of  the  capital  should  combine  them  against  him.  The 
last  days  of  the  Roman  empire  (as  it  was  yet  called  by  its 
princes  and  subjects)  had  come,  if  a  new  and  unexpected  event 
in  the  east  had  not  prolonged  its  miserable  existence  for  yet 
half  a  century. 


508  BAJAZET. 

Timour,  or  Tamerlane  the  Great,  returning  westwardly 
from  his  far  distant  conquests  in  Asia,  had  come  to  reduce  the 
empire  of  Bajazet,  and  number  him  among  the  vanquished. 
Instead  of  pursuing  his  conquests  on  the  western  side  of  the 
Bosphorus,  Bajazet  gathered  his  forces  to  meet  Tamerlane ; 
and,  moving  to  the  east,  their  great  conflict  was  had  on  the 
28th  of  July,  1402,  at  Angora,  in  Asia  Minor,  where  the  for- 
tieth degree  of  north  latitude  and  the  thirty-third  of  east  lon- 
gitude intersect.  A  million  of  men  are  said  to  have  engaged 
in  this  battle.  Instead  of  reigning  at  Constantinople,  Bajazet 
became  a  captive,  and  one  (doubtful)  account  of  his  destiny  is, 
that  he  was  imprisoned  in  an  iron  cage.* 

The  only  hope  that  remained  to  the  Greeks,  was  to  engage 
the  Christians  of  the  west  to  unite  in  defending  and  preserving 
the  empire.  Manuel  undertook  this  embassy,  leaving  one  of 
the  blind  princes  on  his  throne  while  he  should  be  absent. 
The  principal  inducement  held  out  to  the  west  was  the  union  of 
the  Greek  with  the  Latin  church,  and  the  consequent  admis- 
sion of  the  supremacy  of  the  pope.  The  states  of  the  west 
were  too  much  occupied  with  their  own  concerns  to  listen  to 
the  proposals  of  Manuel,  and  the  points  of  difference  between 
the  two  churches  were  irreconcilable.  The  pride  of  the 
Greek  prelates  might  have  been  a  sufficient  obstacle,  if  there 
had  been  none  other. 

John  II.,  oldest  son  of  Manuel,  succeeded  his  father  in  1425. 
At  this  time  the  Christian  states  of  Europe  were  involved  in 
the  great  schism.  The  council  of  Constance  had  been  held  in 
1414  and  the  following  four  years.  The  principle  had  been 
established,  that  the  pope  was  not  supreme,  but  subject  to  the 
great  council  of  Christian  nations,  and  that  councils  should  be 
periodically  assembled  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the  church,  and 
to  correct  and  reform.  The  next  meeting  of  the  council  was  to  be 
held  at  the  city  of  Basle,  (or  Basil,)  on  the  Rhine.  At  this  meet- 
ing the  union  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches  was  considered, 
and  deputies  were  sent  to  the  emperor  and  patriarch  to  invite 
their  concurrence.  The  pope,  who  was  not  in  favor  with  this 
council,  desired  to  prevent  their  acquisition  of  so  great  a  prize 
as  the  submission  of  the  Greek  church  to  their  party,  and  to 
acquire  it  himself.  It  is  an  amusing  fact,  that  the  Christian 
states,  through  their  delegates  to  the  grand  council,  on  the  one 

*  Gibbon,  chapter  LXV.,  treats  the  story  of  the  iron  cage  as  a  fable, 
and  is  of  the  opinion  that  Bajazet  was  generously  treated,  and  died  a 
natural  death  about  nine  months  after  his  defeat. 


GREEK  AND  LATIN  CHURCHES.  509 

side,  and  the  pope  on  the  other,  were  contending  for  the  good 
will  of  the  poor  emperor  of  the  mere  city  of  Constantinople, 
who  could  not  defray  the  expense  of  a  visit  to  either,  and  who 
had  no  intention  of  submitting  to  either.  Both  parties  des- 
patched vessels,  and  both  parties  agreed  to  pay  the  expense  of 
his  personal  attendance.  The  pope  had  the  advantage,  as  his 
vessels  went  from  Venice ;  those  of  the  council  from  Mar- 
seilles. The  emperor  preferred  the  pope's  invitation,  as  he 
was  to  meet  him  at  Ferrara,  (on  the  river  Po,)  instead  of 
going  further  west.  In  February,  1438,  the  emperor  and  the 
patriarch,  with  a  retinue  of  prelates  and  learned  attendants, 
(employed  to  argue  the  points  in  controversy,)  arrived  at 
Venice,  and  proceeded  thence  to  Ferrara.  The  ceremonies  of 
meeting,  and  the  rank,  precedence,  and  rights  of  the  parties 
having  been  adjusted  by  tedious  negotiations,  the  Greeks  were 
surprised  to  find  how  small  a  number  of  dignitaries  were 
present.  They  discerned  that  the  pope  did  not  represent  the 
Christians  of  the  west,  and  that  they,  in  general,  denied  his 
authority.  The  meeting  was  adjourned  for  six  months,  then 
to  be  held  at  Florence.  The  poor  and  dependent  Greeks 
found  themselves  prisoners,  and  compelled  to  await  the  meet- 
ing at  the  adjournment.  Here  a  false  and  deceitful  compro- 
mise was  made  on  points  of  doctrine  and  belief,  which  are 
utterly  incomprehensible  by  any  rational  mind ;  and  about  the 
moment  of  solemn  ratification  of  that  compromise,  by  signing 
the  parchment,  the  pope  was  deposed  by  the  council  of  Basle. 
After  many  difficulties  and  mortifications,  the  Greeks  reached 
Constantinople  in  February,  1440,  having  been  absent  two 
years.  The  emperor  found  his  subjects  in  great  disorder,  civil 
and  ecclesiastical.  The  pretended  union  was  rejected  univer- 
sally by  the  Greeks,  and  the  opposition  extended  into  the  great 
empire  of  Russia,  which  derived  its  religious  creed  from  the 
Greek  church. 

The  pope  Eugenius  having  restored  himself  to  power  by 
humiliating  concessions,  formed  a  league  in  Hungary  and 
some  other  states,  and  a  successful  war  was  carried  on  against 
the  Turks,  and  produced  a  peace  in  1443,  which  was  soon 
broken.  In  the  following  year  the  destructive  battle  of  Warna 
was  fought,  in  which  the  Turks  obtained  a  costly  victory,  and 
in  which  the  king  of  Hungary  was  slain.  Peace  was  again 
made,  with  strong  assurances  of  preserving  it. 

In  1451,  Mahomet  II.  being  sultan,  and  having  tried  the 
effect  of  a  western  league  against  him,  he  resolved  to  possess 
himself  of  Constantinople.  The  emperor  John  had  left  the 
43* 


510  CONQUEST    OF    CONSTANTINOPLE. 

throne  to  his  son  Constantine  XL,  in  1448.  The  sultan  be- 
gan his  hostile  measures  by  building"  a  fort  on  the  western 
shore  (it  is  supposed)  of  the  Hellespont,  in  a  triangular  form, 
one  side  being  on  the  sea.  It  was  raised  and  finished  with 
the  utmost  despatch.  Constantine  remonstrated  with  the  sul- 
tan, that  this  was  an  infraction  of  the  existing  treaty  ;  but  the 
remonstrance  was  disregarded.  In  the  following  winter,  Con- 
stantine made  the  best  preparations  for  defence  which  his  poor 
ability  would  allow,  while  Mahomet  was  intensely  occupied  in 
effecting  his  purposes. 

Four  centuries  have  nearly  elapsed  since  the  fall  of  Con- 
stantinople ;  but  that  event  will  long  continue  to  be  felt  through- 
out the  civilized  world.  As  one  of  the  thousands  of  instances 
of  siege,  assault,  merciless  pillage,  and  cruel  subjection  of  a 
city  and  its  people,  it  holds  an  eminent  rank.  The  ability  and 
resolute  perseverance  of  its  assailant,  the  conduct  of  the  last 
of  its  monarchs,  (unexpectedly  proved  to  be  able  and  patriotic, 
after  a  long  succession  of  worthless  princes,)  impart  an  un- 
common interest  to  the  final  struggle.  This  was  the  last  of 
all  the  unconquered  cities  of  Asia,  Africa,  and  Europe,  that 
had  borne  the  name  of  Roman.  It  was,  at  least,  professedly 
Christian.  It  fell,  that  there  might  arise  on  its  ruins,  in  the 
name  of  religion,  a  relentless  despotism  over  the  body,  the 
heart,  and  the  mind  ;  and  which  spread  its  withering  influence 
over  the  fairest  portions  of  the  earth,  long  endeared  to  the 
scholar,  the  philanthropist,  and  the  Christian,  by  familiar  and 
imperishable  associations. 

The  city  has  already  been  described  as  having  all  its  walls 
in  contact  with  the  surrounding  waters,  except  on  the  west 
side.  Here  the  double  wall  was  four  miles  in  length,  extend- 
ing from  the  sea  of  Marmora  on  the  south,  to  the  waters  of 
the  Port  on  the  north-east.  Between  the  walls  was  a  ditchyof 
the  depth  of  one  hundred  feet.  Mahomet  had  no  vessels  capa- 
ble of  attacking  the  walls  protected  by  the  sea.  All  his  ener- 
gies were,  therefore,  directed  to  the  west  wall.  At  this  time 
gunpowder  and  cannon  were  used  in  the  west  of  Europe,  but 
not  by  the  Turks.  During  the  winter  of  1452 — 3,  a  Dane  or 
Hungarian,  named  Urban,  had  deserted  from  the  Greek  ser- 
vice, and  carried  the  knowledge  of  casting  to  Mahomet,  at 
Adrianople,  and  produced  a  brass  cannon  capable  of  throwing 
a  stone  of  six  hundred  pounds  weight.  Two  months  were 
consumed  in  transporting  this  cannon  from  thence  to  Constan- 
tinople, a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  Other 
pieces  of  cannon  were  cast.     Besides  these  instruments  of 


CONQUEST   Of   CONSTANTINOPLE.  511 

destruction,  the  Turks  were  accustomed  to  the  ancient  forms  of 
attack,  called  ballistae,  catapulta,  &c,  used  in  casting  stones,  and 
in  battering  down  walls ;  and  to  the  erection  of  towers  by  the 
side  of  walls,  whereby  to  rise  to  a  level  with  the  besieged,  and 
to  pass  from  thence  on  to  the  walls.  It  is  supposed  that  the 
whole  Turkish  force  was  258,000  men,  on  the  land.  The  na- 
vy was  computed  at  320  sail,  but  only  18  of  them  were  gallies, 
the  residue  small  vessels,  or  boats :  the  Turks  were  unskilled 
in  maritime  warfare.  Such  was  the  force  which  Mahomet  had 
arrayed  against  the  object  of  his  earnest  craving.  Powerful  as 
it  may  have  been,  and  feeble  as  the  Greeks  were,  it  would  have 
been  insufficient,  if  not  directed  by  the  able  sultan.  He  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  about  23  years  of  age.  He  had  been  well 
educated,  and  could,  it  is  said,  speak  the  Arabian,  the  Persian, 
the  Chaldean,  or  Hebrew,  the  Latin  and  the  Greek  languages. 
But,  by  nature  and  habit,  he  was  severe,  and  even  cruel;  and 
he  commanded  with  a  terrible  energy.  His  forces  had  been 
trained,  during  the  long  preparation,  for  this  great  effort;  prom- 
ises and  menaces  were  alike  used,  and  he  appealed,  especially, 
to  the  spirit  of  fanaticism,  the  doctrine  of  fate,  and  the  rewards 
of  paradise,  which  the  founder  of  the  Moslem  faith  prescribed, 
as  the  surest  means  of  conquest. 

The  Greeks  had  little  to  rely  on,  except  their  natural  and 
artificial  protection.  Among  themselves,  within  the  city,  there 
were  100,000  inhabitants,  mostly  consisting  of  mechanics, 
priests,  women,  and  men,  "  destitute  of  that  spirit  which  even 
women  have  sometimes  exerted  for  the  common  safety." 
Phranza,  the  minister  of  Constantine,  was  commissioned  to  in- 
quire what  number  of  the  whole  could  be  depended  on  for  de- 
fence, and  he  reported  that  he  found  only  4970  Romans.  To 
this  number  2000  strangers,  under  the  command  of  Justinian,  a 
Genoese,  were  added.  The  states  of  the  west  had  been  appris- 
ed of  the  peril  of  the  Bulwark  of  Christianity,  in  the  east,  but 
not  a  movement  was  made  for  defence  or  succor.  The  dis- 
sensions between  nations,  intestine  factions,  and  the  declining 
power  of  the  church,  wrere  insurmountable  obstacles  to  furnish- 
ing any  adequate  foTce.  All  sympathy  for  the  obstinate  and 
heretical  Greeks  had  been  extinguished ;  they  were  not  deemed 
worth  saving,  of  themselves.  If  there  was  fear,  that  the  con- 
quest of  Constantinople  would  open  the  west  to  the  Turks,  it 
was  not  strong  enough  to  produce  any  movement  to  prevent 
that  consequence. 

The  pitiable  picture  of  the  remnant  of  Romans,  as  they  still 
called  themselves,  is  relieved  by  a  single  object,  the  character 


512  CONQUEST    OF    CONSTANTINOPLE. 

and  conduct  of  Constantine.  He  was  then  50  years  of  age. 
In  his  hopeless  condition,  expecting  no  succor  from  the  west, 
shut  up  by  sea,  as  well  as  by  land ;  certain  to  perish  by  famine, 
if  he  could  defend  himself  against  the  sword  of  his  enemy,  the 
world  might  have  justified  him  in  making  the  best  terms  he 
could,  for  his  miserable  subjects,  if  not  for  himself.  Nearly  a 
year  before  the  siege  began,  he  made  an  answer  to  Mahomet,  to 
which  he  firmly  adhered.  "  Since  neither  oaths,  nor  treaty, 
nor  submission,  can  secure  peace,  pursue  your  impious  warfare. 
My  trust  is  in  God  alone.  If  it  should  please  him  to  mollify 
your  heart,  I  shall  rejoice  in  the  happy  change.  If  he  delivers 
the  city  into  your  hands,  I  submit,  without  a  murmur,  to  his 
holy  will.  But  until  the  Judge  of  the  earth  shall  pronounce 
between  us,  it  is  my  duty  to  live,  and  die,  in  the  defence  of  my 
people." 

The  siege  began  on  the  6th  of  April.  The  forces  of  Ma- 
homet were  arranged  along  the  western  wall,  from  the  sea  to 
the  Port.  With  his  cannon  and  his  other  implements,  he  at- 
tempted to  batter  down  the  wall.  This  was  the  post  of  danger, 
and  here  was  the  post  of  Constantine,  animating  and  sustain- 
ing his  little  army,  by  his  presence  and  example.  At  the  close 
of  day,  the  tower  of  St.  Romanus,  in  the  outward  wall,  had 
been  battered  down,  and  after  a  fierce  conflict,  at  the  breach, 
the  Turks  were  repulsed,  and  retired.  The  emperor  and  Jus- 
teniani  passed  the  night  on  the  spot,  and  in  the  morning,  the 
sultan  perceived,  with  grief  and  astonishment,  that  the  wooden 
tower  which  he  forced  over  the  ditch,  had  been  burnt,  the  ditch 
cleared,  and  the  tower  again  strong  and  entire.* 

The  reduction  of  the  city  now  appeared  to  be  hopeless,  un- 
less a  double  attack  could  be  made  on  the  west,  and  from  the 
Port,  on  the  north-east  side.  The  sultan  conceived  the  project 
of  transporting  his  light  vessels,  ten  miles  over  land,  from  the 
Bosphorus  to  the  upper  part  of  the  harbor,  where  the  water 
was  too  shallow  to  permit  the  heavy  vessels  of  the  Greeks  to 
approach.  Eighty  vessels,  with  almost  incredible  labor,  were 
thus  transported  along  a  line  north-east  of  the  suburbs  of  Para 
and  Galata.  With  the  aid  of  these  boats  he  constructed  a  plat- 
form, which  could  be  floated  to  the  base  of  the  wall,  of  suffi- 
cient length  and  breadth  to  support  a  heavy  cannon,  and  scaling 
ladders.     Whether  known  to  the  sultan  or  not,  it  was  by  a  sim- 

*  It  is  not  clear,  from  any  description  met  with,  whether  the  ditch  was 
outside  of  the  western  wall,  or  between  the  two  walls;  nor  whether  there 
was  a  double  wall.  According  to  different  accounts,  either  of  these  sup- 
positions may  be  assumed. 


CONQUEST   OF    CONSTANTINOPLE.  513 

ilar  measure  that  the  crusaders  possessed  themselves  of  the 
city,  250  years  before.  Forty  gallant  youths,  who  attempted  to 
burn  these  works,  were  taken  and  massacred.  Constantine  re- 
taliated by  exposing,  on  the  walls,  the  heads  of  250  Turkish 
captives. 

The  29th  of  May  (1453)  was  selected  for  the  general  and 
double  assault.  Every  inducement  which  the  inventive  genius 
of  Mahomet  could  suggest,  was  presented  to  the  hopes,  fears, 
and  cravings  of  his  soldiery.  Constantine  appears  to  have 
expected  this  fatal  attack.  His  officers  were  summoned  to  the 
palace,  on  the  evening  of  the  28th,  and  prepared  for  their  du- 
ties and  dangers.  "  The  last  speech,"  says  Gibbon,  "  of  Con- 
stantine Palceologus,  was  the  funeral  oration  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire." The  account  of  this  mournful  meeting  is  given  by 
Phrauza,  who  was,  himself,  present.  "  They  wept — they  em- 
braced— regardless  of  their  families  and  fortunes,  they  devoted 
their  lives,  and  each  commander  departed  for  his  station."  The 
emperor  entered  the  church  of  St.  Sophia,  partook  of  the  com- 
munion ;  reposed  some  moments  in  the  palace,  which  resound- 
ed with  cries  and  lamentations;  mounted  on  horseback  to  visit 
the  guards,  and  explore  the  motions  of  the  enemy. 

At  the  dawn  of  day  the  general  assault  was  made,  on  the 
land,  and  on  the  water..  This  scene  is  not  within  any  descrip- 
tive power.  "  All,"  says  Gibbon,  •«  is  blood,  horror,  and  con- 
fusion ;  nor  shall  I  strive,  at  the  distance  of  three  centuries, 
and  1000  miles,  to  delineate  a  scene  of  which  there  could  be 
no  spectators,  and  of  which  the  actors  themselves  wTere  incapa- 
ble of  forming  any  just  or  adequate  idea.  Amidst  these  mul- 
titudes, the  emperor,  who  accomplished  all  the  duties  of  a  gen- 
eral and  a  soldier,  was  long  seen  and  finally  lost."  His  last 
fear  was  that  he  might  fall  alive  into  the  hands  of  the  sultan, 
and  his  last  expression,  "  Cannot  there  be  found  a  Christian 
to  cut  off  my  head."  He  cast  away  the  personal  distinctions 
of  his  rank,  and  fell  by  an  unknown  hand,  and  was  found 
11  under  a  mountain  of  the  slain."  Soon  after  resistance  ceased ; 
the  remnant  of  Greeks  fled  into  the  city,  and  the  Turks  fol- 
lowed. 

On  the  assurance  that  all  was  lost,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city  fled  to  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia,  and  crowded  every  part. 
A  tradition  had  been  received  among  them,  that  the  Turks 
would  enter  the  city,  and  that  they  would  come  as  far  as  the 
column  of  Constantine,  in  the  square  before  the  church  ;  that 
an  angel  would  descend  with  a  sword,  and  deliver  it  to  an  old 
man  seated  at  the  foot  of  the  column,  saying,  "  Take  this  sword 


514  CONQUEST    OF    CONSTANTINOPLE. 

and  avenge  the  people  of  the  Lord" — that  the  Turks  would 
be  immediately  driven  back,  and  across  the  Bosphorus,  and 
even  to  Persia.  This  belief  appears  to  have  been  common  to 
all  classes,  for  the  assembly  in  the  church  included  all.  The 
assailants  soon  found  the  way  into  the  church,  and  proceeded 
to  bind  the  captives  in  couples,  without  discrimination  of  age, 
sex,  or  condition.  More  than  60,000  of  the  inhabitants  were 
sold  as  slaves.  Phrauza  was  among  the  number.  After  four 
months  of  servitude,  he  purchased  his  freedom,  and  redeemed 
his  wife,  whom  he  found  in  the  service  of  the  sultan's  master 
of  horse.  His  children  perished.  The  wealth  of  Constanti- 
nople had  been  granted  by  the  sultan,  to  his  troops ;  the  city, 
and  its  buildings,  he  reserved  to  himself.  The  churches  and 
monasteries,  and  some  private  dwellings,  afforded  a  rich  spoil. 
The  Byzantine  libraries,  like  those  of  Alexandria,  were  of  no 
value  in  the  eyes  of  the  Turks,  and  are  supposed  to  have  been 
destroyed,  and,  probably,  many  valuable  works  then  perished. 
Before  the  close  of  the  day  the  sultan  made  a  triumphal  entry. 
He  entered  the  church  of  St.  Sophia,  its  Christian  ornaments 
were  torn  down,  its  walls  purified,  and  the  building  converted 
into  a  mosque.  The  sultan  was  desirous  of  an  inhabited  city, 
and  not  a  desolate  one ;  and  he  therefore  invited  the  Christians 
to  return,  and  assured  them  of  life,  liberty,  and  their  religion. 
This  concession  was  observed,  during  sixty  years.  That  por- 
tion of  the  city,  which  lies  on  the  eastern  point,  was  cleared, 
to  make  room  for  the  apartments  of  the  sultan.  There  they 
still  remain,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  church  of  St.  Sophia,  and 
the  Hippodrome,  the  earliest  works  of  the  first  Constantine. 

The  renewal  of  Constantinople,  under  Turkish  dominion,  is 
a  very  different  city  from  that  which  it  was  under  its  founder ; 
and  even  different  from  that  which  it  was  when  the  Greeks  re- 
covered it  from  the  Latins.  This  city  has  been  besieged  24 
times,  and  taken  six  times,  in  the  course  of  the  1853  years, 
which  preceded  its  conquest  by  Mahomet.  Thrice,  while  it 
was  Byzantium ;  by  Alcibiades,  the  Athenian,  about  400  years 
before  the  Christian  era ;  by  the  emperor  Severus,  about  the 
year  200,  of  our  era ;  and  by  Constantine,  (from  his  rival  em- 
peror, Licinius,)  about  325.  After  it  became  Constantinople, 
it  was  thrice  taken ;  by  the  Latin  crusaders  in  1204;  by  Mi- 
chael Palceologus  in  1261 ;  and  by  Mahomet  II.  in  1453.* 

*  The  history  of  this  city  has  been  principally  taken  from  Gibbon's  De- 
cline and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire;  and  its  final  overthrow  from  ch. 
LXVIII.  Dearborn's  Memoir  on  the  Commerce  of  the  Black  Sea,  &c, 
has  been  useful  in  the  local  description. 


GREEK    CHURCH.  515 


Note  on  the  Greek  Church. 

There  having  been  frequent  occasions  to  allude  to  the  differ- 
ences between  the  Greek  and  Roman  churches,  the  following 
brief  remarks  are  added,  to  show  their  origin. 

When  the  new  capital  of  the  empire  was  founded  by  Con- 
stantine,  the  like  power  and  dignity  were  conferred  on  the  bish- 
op there,  which  were  held  by  the  bishop  of  Rome.  As  the 
eastern  capital  became  more  and  more  the  object  of  attraction, 
having  the  presence  of  the  emperor,  and  his  court ;  the  an- 
cient capital  became  less  and  less  important.  The  bishop  of 
the  former  gradually  extended  his  power,  and  assumed  to  be 
the  superior  of  the  bishops  of  Antioch,  in  Syria,  and  of  Alex- 
andria, in  Egypt.  The  discontented  parties  appealed  to  the 
Roman  bishop,  and  their  complaints  were  graciously  entertain- 
ed. Athanasius,  among  others,  when  he  considered  himself 
persecuted  at  Alexandria,  fled  to  the  western  church.  This 
contention  for  superiority  continued,  with  little  interruption,  for 
150  years.  In  the  synod,  held  at  Constantinople,  in  588,  the 
patriarch,  or  supreme  head  of  the  church  there,  assumed  the 
title  of  universal  bishop,  which  greatly  offended  the  bishop  of 
Rome.  About  the  year  600,  the  emperor  Phocas  saw  fit  to 
transfer  that  title  to  the  Roman  pontiff.  But  his  Greek  subjects 
were  obstinately  opposed  to  this  measure,  and  refused  to  ac- 
knowledge any  spiritual  subjection  but  to  their  own  patriarch. 
JThis  contention  was  continued  until  some  time  in  the  eighth 
century,  when  doctrinal  points  arose  between  the  two  churches, 
which  caused  dissension  for  more  than  600  years,  viz.  Wheth- 
er the  Holy  Spirit  proceeded  from  the  Father,  only,  or  from 
the  Father  and  the  Son.  The  first  opinion  was  entertained  by 
the  Greeks,  the  second  by  the  Roman,  or  Latin  church. 

In  853,  Photius,  a  learned  and  able  man,  was  patriarch  at 
Constantinople,  Ignatius  having  been  displaced  to  elevate  him. 
Ignatius  appealed  to  the  pope,  who  excommunicated  Photius. 
Photius  excommunicated  the  pope,  and  charged  him  with  divers 
heresies,  which  show  the  character  of  their  dissensions.  1. 
That  the  Romans  fasted  on  the  sabbath,  or  seventh  day  of  the 
week.  2.  That  in  the  first  week  of  lent,  they  permitted  the 
use  of  milk  and  cheese.  3.  That  they  prohibited  their  priests 
to  marry,  and  separated  from  their  wives  such  as  were  married, 
when  they  went  into  orders.     4.  That  they   authorized  the 


516  -         GREEK    CHURCH. 

bishops,  alone,  to  anoint  baptized  persons,  with  the  holy  chrism, 
(sacred  oil,)  withholding  that  power  from  presbyters.  5.  That 
they  had  introduced  into  the  creed,  filioque,  that  is,  the  Holy 
Spirit  proceeded  from  the  Son,  as  well  as  from  the  Father. 

There  were  other  dissensions  between  the  two  churches, 
which  were  utterly  irreconcilable.  The  Latin  church  relied 
on  the  False  Decretals  as  the  basis  of  the  supreme  power  of 
the  popes,  both  temporal  and  spiritual.  The  Greek  church, 
from  the  first,  denounced  these  decretals,  as  forgeries.  The 
Greek  church  adhered  with  unyielding  pertinacity  to  the  early 
doctrines  of  the  first  ages,  while  that  of  Rome  adopted  every 
innovation,  and  construction,  which  would  promote  their  pur- 
poses. In  the  last  two  centuries  of  the  Greek  empire,  the 
clergy,  and  many  laymen,  had  become  learned  in  church  doc- 
trines, and  the  whole  people  were  obstinately  devoted  to  the 
practices  and  opinions  which  had  been  transmitted,  unimpair- 
ed, through  many  ages.  They  regarded  many  of  the  ceremo- 
nies, and  many  points  of  belief,  of  the  Latin  church,  as  abomi- 
nable heresies.  These  were  insurmountable  obstacles  to  the 
union  of  the  two  churches.  Yet  a  union  was  exceedingly  de- 
sirable, by  both  parties.  The  Latin  church  desired  it,  because 
it  would  establish  the  pope's  supremacy.  The  Greek  church 
desired  it,  because  they  would  thereby  acquire  the  aid  of  the 
west  in  resisting  the  hostilities  of  the  Turks.  The  attempts  to 
effect  this  union  were  repeated,  again  and  again,  through  suc- 
cessive centuries.  Among  the  last  of  these  attempts,  the  points 
of  difference  were  reduced  to  these  four: — 1.  The  proces- 
sion of  the  Holy  Spirit.  2.  The  use  of  leavened  or  unleavened 
bread  in  the  Eucharist.  3.  Purgatory.  4.  The  supremacy  St 
the  pope. 

On  the  first  point,  the  difference  was  the  same  which  it  had 
ever  been.  The  Greeks  maintaining  that  the  Holy  Spirit  pro- 
ceeded from  the  Father  only;  the  Latins,  that  it  proceeded  from 
the  Father  and  the  Son.  On  the  second  point,  the  Greeks  were 
immoveable  in  the  belief  that  the  holy  communion  could  be 
administered  only  with  leavened  bread,  and  the  Latins  that  the 
bread  might  be  unleavened.  On  the  third  point,  both  parties 
believed  in  an  intermediate  state  of  purification  of  the  soul. 
But  there  were  irreconcilable  differences,  on  the  nature  of  that 
purification,  on  its  duration,  and  on  the  liability  of  different 
classes  of  sinners,  to  be  subjected  to  it.  The  last  (fourth)  point 
involved,  on  the  part  of  the  Greeks,  all  their  long-cherished 
and  bigoted  opinions ;  and,  on  the  part  of  the  Latins,  the  main 
object  of  the  whole  controversy.     It  was  of  little  importance 


GREEK    CHURCH.  517 

to  them  what  became  of  the  three  first  points,  if  the  pope's 
supremacy  were  not  acknowledged.  The  labored  effort  at 
Florence,  in  1439,  to  unite  the  two  churches,  has  already  been 
noticed,  and  that  the  Greeks,  with  great  unanimity,  rejected 
the  contract,  and  would,  probably,  have  done  the  same  thing 
if  they  had  believed  that  the  taking  of  their  city  by  the  Turks 
would  have  been  the  inevitable  consequence. 

In  the  year  1451,  less  than  two  years  before  the  final  con- 
quest, pope  Nicholas  V.  made  a  solemn  address  to  the  Greeks, 
at  a  time  when  the  Turks  had  reduced  the  empire  almost  to 
the  walls  of  Constantinople.  He  exhorted  them  to  pay  some 
regard  to  their  own  safety,  and  to  reconcile  themselves  to  the 
church,  as  the  only  means  of  securing  it.  The  pope  was, 
probably,  sincere  in  this,  as  he  had  hoped  to  arouse  all  Chris- 
tendom in  a  final  effort  against  the  common  enemy,  if  the 
reconciliation  were  first  effected.  He  warned  them  that  there 
were  yet  three  years  for  probation,  resembling  their  case  to 
the  parable  of  the  fig-tree.  The  closing  scene  of  the  attempts 
at  reconciliation  occurred  the  next  year.  It  shows  the  nature 
of  religious  delusions  among  this  remnant  of  the  Romans,  or 
Greeks. 

The  pope  sent  his  legate  to  enforce  the  address  of  the  pre- 
ceding year.  The  emperor,  who  knew,  better  than  his  sub- 
jects, the  impending  peril,  received  him  graciously,  and  went 
with  him  to  celebrate  the  divine  services  in  the  church  of  St. 
Sophia.  When  the  pope  was  mentioned,  the  whole  assembly 
rose,  the  city  was  filled  with  commotion,  the  entire  population, 
excepting  only  the  immediate  dependants  of  the  emperor,  joined 
in  an  "  anathema  against  all  who  had  united  with  the  Latins." 
"  The  sanctuary  of  St.  Sophia  was  declared  to  be  profaned ; 
all  intercourse  was  suspended  with  those  who  had  assisted  in 
the  service  with  the  legate;  absolution  was  refused,  and  the 
churches  closed  against  them." 

The  Greek  church  survived  the  empire,  persevered  in  its 
separation  from  the  Latin  church,  and  still  numbers  a  large 
portion  of  the  people  of  eastern  Europe  among  its  votaries. 
It  is  the  established  religion  of  ancient  Greece,  and  of  Russia. 


44 


518  ASIA    MINOR SYRIA, 

CHAPTER  LXVIL 

WESTERN    ASIA PERSIA. 

Asia  Minor,  or  lesser  Asia,  is  about  six  hundred  miles 
long,  from  east  to  west,  and  of  irregular  breadth,  averaging' 
three  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  It  lies  between  thirty-six  and 
forty -two  north  latitude,  and  twenty-six  and  thirty-six  east  longi- 
tude. Having  the  sea  on  three  sides,  a  full  proportion  of  pro- 
ductive land,  and  favorable  latitudes,  no  equal  portion  of  the 
eastern  hemisphere  is  better  adapted  to  agriculture  and  com- 
merce, and  to  the  maintenance  of  a  numerous  population. 
The  proximity  to  the  sea,  and  the  elevation  of  the  mountains, 
may  occasion  great  variety  of  climate  and  sudden  changes. 
No  equal  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  has  borne  so  many 
armed  men  as  Asia  Minor.  During  two  thousand  years,  it 
may  be  called  the  highway  of  armies.  The  Taurus  range  of 
mountains  begins  in  the  westwardly  part  of  this  peninsula, 
and,  tending  towards  the  south-east  corner  of  the  Black  Sea, 
it  passes,  in  a  curve,  around  Armenia ;  then  tending  south- 
wardly between  the  Tigris  and  the  Caspian  Sea,  to  about  the 
thirty-second  degree  of  north  latitude,  it  turns  eastwardly  be- 
tween that  sea  and  the  Gulf  of  Persia,  and  runs  eastwardly 
through  Persia,  and  along  the  north  of  India,  Chin-India, 
and  into  China,  and  disappears  on  the  eastern  coast  of  China. 
Numerous  branches  are  thrown  off  in  this  long  course. 

As  this  mountain  range  passes  around  Armenia,  it  furnishes 
the  sources  of  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris.  The  former 
takes  a  south-westwardly  course,  along  the  foot  of  the  range, 
towards  the  north-east  corner  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  then 
a  south-eastwardly  course,  through  Mesopotamia,  to  the  Per- 
sian Gulf.  The  general  course  of  the  Tigris  is  south-east, 
through  Mesopotamia,  the  two  rivers  uniting  one  hundred  miles 
from  the  gulf,  and  then  taking  the  name  of  Shat  al  Arab. 
The  Aras,  or  Araxes,  rises  in  the  mountains  (Arrarat)  where- 
on Noah's  ark  is  supposed  to  have  rested,  and  flows  south- 
eastwardly  into  the  Caspian.  Arrarat  is  north-eastwardly  of 
the  Taurus  range,  where  it  passes  around  Armenia. 

The  east  end  of  the  Mediterranean  is  about  four  hundred 
miles  in  extent,  from  north  to  south.  Near  its  north-east 
corner,  on  the  Orontes,  sixteen  miles  from  the  sea,  is  Antioch. 
Going  southwardly  from  Antioch,  along  the  east  shore  of  this 
sea,  these  cities  and  places  are  found : — From  Antioch  to  Trip- 


EUPHRATES    AND    TIGRIS.  519 

oli  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  From  Tripoli  to  Barout, 
the  ancient  Berytus,  is  sixty  miles,  and  thence  to  Sidon  is 
thirty  miles.  From  Sidon  to  Tyre,  twenty-two  miles ;  and  it 
is  about  the  same  distance  from  Tyre  to  St.  Jean  d'Acre,  or 
Ptolemais.  From  Acre  to  Joppa  (or  Jaffa)  is  fifty  miles,  and 
Joppa  is  about  seventy  from  the  south-east  corner  of  the  sea. 
Beginning  again  at  the  north,  and  going  south,  the  following 
are  some  of  the  remarkable  -cities,  interior  from  the  coast : — 
Eastwardly  from  Antioch,  forty  miles,  is  Aleppo,  the  ancient 
Beria.  East  from  Barout,  sixty  miles  is  Damascus,  still  a 
considerable  city.  East  from  Tripoli,  nearly  on  the  thirty- 
fifth  degree  of  north  latitude,  two  hundred  miles,  is  Tadmor 
in  the  Wilderness,  or  Palmyra.  This  magnificent  city  is  seen 
to  have  been  such  by  the  ruins  which  still  disclose  its  site. 
They  are  about  one  hundred  miles  west  of  the  Euphrates,  the 
whole  distance  being  a  desert.  Jerusalem  is  thirty  miles  east 
from  Joppa.* 

In  the  great  valley  of  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris  is  Mes- 
opotamia, or  the  country  between  the  two  rivers,  as  the  name 
implies.  Here  was  the  varying  boundary  between  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  Persians  and  Parthians,  for  centuries.  Samosata 
was  on  the  west  side  of  the  Euphrates,  latitude  thirty-eight. 
Edessa  was  east-south-east  of  Samosata,  and  twenty  miles  east 
of  the  river.  On  the  east  side  of  the  Tigris,  and  nearly  oppo- 
site to  the  modern  Turkish  town,  Mosul,  midway  between 
thirty-six  and  thirty-seven  north  latitude,  was  Nineveh.  East 
from  this,  forty  miles,  was  Arbela,  now  Erbila,  where  Alex- 
ander conquered  Darius.  North-east  from  Mosul,  three  hun- 
dred miles,  and  one  hundred  west  from  the  Caspian,  was  the 
great  city  of  Taurus,  now  Tabris  or  Tabrees,  the  same  which 
the  Roman  emperor  Heraclius  took.  In  the  time  of  the  caliphs 
(800)  it  had  half  a  million  of  inhabitants.  Cyrus  brought  the 
riches,  of  which  he  rifled  Croesus,  to  this  city.  It  is  now  a 
poor  Turkish  town  of  thirty  thousand  people. 

Down  the  Tigris,  about  two  hundred  and  thirty  miles  from 
Mosul,  in  a  course  a  little  east  of  south,  is  Bagdad,  celebrated 
as  the  seat  of  the  caliphs  of  the  Mahommedan  empire,  in  the 

*  This  territory  is  described  by  Henry  Maundrell,  (who  went  from 
Aleppo  to  Jerusalem  in  1697,)  in  a  small  volume,  lately  published,  and 
edited  by  the  Rev.  F.  W.  P.  Greenwood,  an  exceedingly  instructive  and 
interesting  work.  Palmyra  has  lately  been  brought  to  view,  in  the 
letters  from  Lucius  M.  Piso,  from  Palmyra,  to  his  friend  Marcus  Cur- 
iius,  at  Rome.  This  work  is  attributed  to  the  Rev.  William  Ware,  and 
has  acquired  a  lasting  and  honorable  fame  for  its  author, 


520  PERSIA. 

eighth  and  ninth  centuries.  Here  was  the  abode  of  science, 
of  luxury,  and  of  fanciful  invention.  The  thousand  and  one 
tales  (Arabian  Nights)  were  first  recited  here.  It  is  still  a 
considerable  place,  having  eighty  thousand  inhabitants.  Its 
latitude  is  about  thirty-three  and  a  third.  Twenty  miles  south 
of  Bagdad  are  ancient  ruins  ;  geographers  and  travellers  differ 
in  opinion  as  to  what  ruins  they  are.  Following  Malte  Brun, 
who  is  the  latest,  and,  probably,  the  best  authority,  these  are 
all  that  remains  of  Ctesiphon,  in  which  was  the  palace  of 
Chosroes  II..  in  the  time  of  Heraclius,  (year  628.)  The  ruins 
also  of  a  fortress  called  Kochos,  both  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Tigris.  There  are  still  some  admirable  buildings  at  this 
place,  which  are  called,  by  the  Turks,  Takt-Kesroo,  which 
may  be  a  term  derived  from  Chosroes.  The  city  of  Seleucia 
(Malte  Brun,  vol.  iii.  p.  118)  wras  west  of  this  place,  three 
miles,  on  a  canal.  Other  writers  consider  Ctesiphon  to  be 
Seleucia.  In  this  vicinity  the  ground  is  covered  with  ruins. 
In  the  splendor  of  Arabian  power,  in  the  eighth  century,  there 
was  such  a  continuation  of  buildings  as  to  make  one  street  of 
twenty  miles  in  length.  Directly  south  of  Bagdad,  at  the 
distance  of  sixty  miles,  are  the  ruins  of  Babylon,  on  the  Eu- 
phrates, latitude  thirty-two  and  a  half.  The  site  of  the  tower 
of  Nimrod,  or  temple  of  Belus,  is  here  ascertained.  Six 
miles  below  is  the  Turkish  town-,  Helleh,  built  entirely  of 
bricks  taken  from  these  ruins.  South  of  Babylon  to  the  gulf, 
the  whole  country  is  a  plain.  Somewhere  in  this  vicinity  was 
ancient  Chaldea.  At  Korna,  two  hundred  miles  south-east  of 
Babylon,  the  two  rivers  unite.  Forty  miles  below  this  con- 
fluence, is  Basra,  or  Bassora,  where  merchant  vessels  and  the 
caravans  meet,  to  exchange  the  merchandise  of  India,  Persia, 
and  the  north. 

Modern  Persia  is  situated  eastwardly  of  the  Tigris,  and 
between  it  and  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  between  that  sea  and  the 
Gulf  of  Persia.  The  northwardly  end  of  this  gulf  is  about 
six  hundred  miles  south  from  the  south  end  of  the  Caspian. 
Persia  extends  along  the  north-east  side  of  this  gulf  and  the 
Gulf  of  Ormus,  to  the  intersection  of  the  twenty-sixth  degree 
of  north  latitude,  and  fifty-seventh  of  east  longitude.  Then  the 
boundary  runs  northwardly,  leaving  the  mountainous  country 
of  Beluchistan,  and  the  modern  kingdom  of  Afganistan,  on  the 
east,  to  the  intersection  of  the  thirty-seventh  degree  of  north 
latitude,  and  sixty-first  of  east  longitude,  and  thence  westwardly 
to  the  Caspian,  near  its  south-east  corner.  Persia,  therefore, 
has  within  its  limits  many  cities  celebrated  in  Jewish,  Greek, 


PERSEPOLIS. 


521 


Roman,  and  Mahommedan  history.  Ecbatana.  Turkish  Ha- 
medan  is  on  the  site  of  this  ancient  city,  latitude  thirty-five, 
longitude  forty-nine.  In  the  time  of  Cyrus  and  his  successors, 
Susa,  or  Sushan,  was  the  royal  residence;  latitude 31,  32, — 66 
east  longitude,  perhaps  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  north  of 
the  Gulf  of  Persia.  Which  of  the  mounds  of  earth  here, 
cover  the  ruins  of  Susa,  is  unknown.  Daniel  dwelt  here  in 
his  captivity,  and  was  buried  here.  Ispahan,  to  which  Herac- 
lius  penetrated,  was  the  capital  of  Persia,  four  hundred  miles 
east  from  the  ruins  of  Babylon,  three  hundred  south  from  the 
Caspian,  and  near  latitude  thirty-two.  It  was  a  splendid  city. 
Around  it  were  fourteen  hundred  villages.  It  is  still  a  great 
city,  but  no  longer  the  capital,  which  is  Teheran,  near  the 
south  end  of  the  Caspian. 

Whatever  admiration  some  of  the  cities  before  mentioned 
may  have  attracted,  they  are  insignificant,  compared  with  Per- 
sepolis, (the  name  given  by  the  Greeks,)  which,  like  the  pyra- 
mids, arose  before  history  began,  and,  like  them,  has  baffled 
conjecture. 

Persepolis  is  situated  near  the  twenty-ninth  degree  of  north 
lat.  and  the  fifty-third  of  east  long.,  and  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  a  little  north  of  east  from  the  place  in  the  Gulf  of 
Persia  where  the  united  waters  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris 
are  received.  Ispahan,  the  largest  city  of  modern  Persia,  lies 
nearly  north-west  of  these  ruins,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles.  The  remains  of  Persepolis,  and  of  the  monuments 
around  it,  are  formed  out  of  the  mountain  of  rock  at  the  foot 
of  which  they  are  found,  and  out  of  marble  wrought  with 
wonderful  skill,  and  of  such  grandeur  in  extent,  as  to  fill 
beholders  with  astonishment.  No  words  can  convey  any  idea 
of  these  magnificent  relics.  The  inscriptions  cut  in  the  solid 
rock,  like  those  in  Egypt,  have  not  yielded  to  the  diligent  in- 
quiry of  the  learned. 

By  what  hands,  and  at  what  age  of  the  world,  and  for  what 
purposes,  were  these  structures  of  Persepolis  raised  ?  Noth- 
ing within  the  range  of  historical  records  affords  any  answer. 
If  they  had  been  constructed  of  bricks,  like  the  great  cities  on 
the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  they  would,  probably,  have  disap- 
peared even  before  Babylon  arose.  They  seem  to  have  exist- 
ed before  the  Persian  empire,  and  they  may  have  been  intended 
for  the  double  purpose  of  religious  worship  and  of  royal  resi- 
dence. No  historical  account  regards  them  as  such  residence, 
at  any  time  within  five  hundred  years  before  our  era.  Heeren 
appears  to  consider  Persepolis  to  have  been  a  sacred  city,  and 
44* 


522  CENTRAL    ASIA. 

the  place  assigned  for  the  preservation  of  the  royal  treasures, 
and  for  the  sepulchre  of  Persian  kings.  The  tomb  of  Cyrus 
is  supposed  to  be  here. 

When  Alexander  visited  Persepolis,  three  hundred  and 
thirty  years  before  our  era,  the  magnificent  palace  in  which 
he  took  up  his  abode  was  entire,  and  while  he  was  there,  all 
of  it,  that  fire  could  destroy,  perished.  It  is  said  that  this 
wanton  destruction  was  an  act  of  vengeance,  and  that  the  fire 
began  from  a  torch  held  in  his  own  hand.  Other  accounts 
say,  that  it  began  in  a  drunken  revel  which  he  held  in  this 
palace,  as  he  did  in  all  others,  wherein  he  sojourned  in  the 
east,  and  that  it  was  proposed  to  finish  the  banqueting  of  the 
night  by  this  splendid  conflagration.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  motive,  the  palace  was  then  burnt.  Astonishing 
treasures  had  accumulated  in  Persepolis,  which  the  great  Al- 
exander had,  undoubtedly,  secured,  before  he  applied  the  torch. 
He  found  here,  surviving,  hundreds  of  Greek  captives,  taken 
in  former  wars,  whose  personal  appearance  indicated  the 
character  of  Persian  warfare.  All  of  them  had  been  mutilated 
in  some  cruel  manner.  Either  a  hand,  a  foot,  a  nose,  an  ear, 
or  a  tongue,  were  wanting  to  each  of  these  unfortunate  beings. 
Alexander  offered  to  send  them  all  back  to  Greece,  but  they 
declined  the  offer,  as  they  could  not  endure  to  be  seen  in  their 
native  land,  in  such  a  disgraceful  condition. 

That  part  of  Asia  which  the  learned  consider  to  have  been 
"  the  cradle  of  nations"  includes  a  part  of  modern  Persia, 
and  may  be  thus  defined: — Its  western  boundary  is  on  a  line 
beginning  on  the  fiftieth  degree  of  north  latitude,  two  hundred 
miles  north  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  running  south  on  the 
fifty-fifth  degree  of  east  longitude,  by  the  east  side  of  that  sea, 
to  the  thirtieth  degree  of  north  latitude.  From  the  extremi- 
ties of  this  western  line,  and  between  the  fiftieth  and  thirtieth 
degrees  of  north  latitude,  twelve  hundred  miles  in  extent,  east- 
wardly,  would  come  to  the  Beloor  range  of  mountains,  and 
this  range  would  form  the  eastern  boundary.  In  other  words, 
"  the  cradle  of  nations  "  is  between  the  Caspian  Sea  and  the 
Beloor  mountains,  and  between  the  parallels  of  fifty  and  thirty 
degrees  of  north  latitude.  It  is  about  twelve  hundred  miles 
from  west  to  east,  and  about  one  thousand  from  north  to  south. 
The  Altai  range  of  mountains,  which  run  east  and  west,  is  on 
the  northern  boundary  of  this  territory,  and  the  Taurus  range 
of  mountains  is  on  its  southern  one.  There  are  no  rivers 
which  flow  from  the  Altai  mountains,  southwardly.  From 
the  Taurus  mountains  the  Oxus,  or  Gihon,  flows  northwardly; 


JUSTINIAN    AND    CHOSROES.  5*23 

and  the  Jaxartes,  or  Sihon  flows  north-westwardly :  both  empty 
into  lake  Aral,  east  of  the  Caspian.  From  this  cradle  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth  are  supposed  to  have  come  forth,  originally; 
and  many  are  known  to  have  come  from  this  territory,  within 
the  time  of  historical  record. 

This  geographical  sketch  will  elucidate  the  Persian  and  Ma- 
hommedan  histoiy.  It  is  not  intended  to  describe  Persia. 
Curiosity  may  be  satisfied,  in  this  respect,  by  the  perusal  of 
many  works,  easily  found.  Rollin's  Ancient  History  (the  most 
approved  edition  is  by  Samuel  Walker,  in  1827)  shows  what 
ancient  Persia  was:  and  the  works  of  Sir  Robert  Ker  Porter, 
and  James  Morier,  Esq.  contain  the  best  account  of  modem 
Persia.  To  these  may  be  added  Make  Brun's  excellent  geog- 
raphy. 

In  523  of  our  era,  Cavades  was  succeeded  on  the  Persian 
throne  by  Chosroes,  or  Nushirvan.  The  Roman  emperor, 
Justinian,  and  Chosroes,  were  contemporaries  about  40  years. 
Their  adjoining  boundaries  were  between  the  Caucassian 
mountains,  (situate  between  the  Black  and  Caspian  Seas,)  and 
thence  south-east,  through  Armenia,  and  Mesopotamia,  to  the 
gulf  of  Persia.  It  was  a  continually  varying  boundary,  accord- 
ing to  the  fortune  of  war,  which  was  almost  incessant,  between 
these  two  monarchs. 

The  reign  and  the  character  of  Justinian  have  already  been 
noticed.  Chosroes  wras  the  third  son  of  Cavades,  and  to  se- 
cure the  throne  to  himself,  he  caused  his  two  elder  brothers, 
and  their  families,  to  be  murdered.  Yet  he  professed  to  be  a 
just  prince,  and  to  be  ever  solicitous  for  the  welfare  of  his  sub- 
jects. He  effected  many  salutary  reforms,  and  promoted  edu- 
cation and  agriculture,  by  expending  the  money  of  his  treasu- 
ry. He  assumed  to  be  the  patron  of  learning,  and  of  the  arts. 
The  few  of  the  Grecian  philosophers  (seven  are  mentioned  by 
name)  who  remained  in  Justinian's  dominions,  were  driven  out 
by  his  intolerance.  They  visited  Chosroes,  but  were  soon  dis- 
gusted with  him,  and  his  country.  They  found  that  he  was 
vain,  cruel,  and  ambitious ;  the  Magi,  (priests,)  bigoted  and  in- 
tolerant; the  nobles  haughty;  the  courtiers,  servile;  the  mag- 
istrates, unjust.  They  were  shocked  by  the  plurality  of  wives, 
the  number  of  concubines,  the  incestuous  marriages,  and  the 
custom  of  exposing  the  dead  to  dogs  and  vultures.  They  hast- 
ily returned,  considering  a  residence  within  the  empire,  under 
any  circumstances,  preferable  to  any  favors  which  the  Persian 
monarch  could  bestow.  He  did  them,  however,  that  favor 
which  they  most  desired,  by  making  an  agreement  with  Justin- 


524  CHOSROES    II. 

ian  that  they  should  live  unmolested,  within  his  dominions. 
They  so  lived  and  died,  leaving  no  disciples.  This  was  the 
end  of  the  long  list  of  Grecian  sages,  about  the  middle  of  the 
sixth  century.  The  interpretation  of  Epictetus,  by  Semplicius, 
one  of  the  seven,  is  found  in  libraries  of  the  present  time. 
[Gibbon,  chap,  xl.] 

Notwithstanding  the  opinion  which  these  Grecians  enter- 
tained of  Persia,  Chosroes  was  entitled  to  the  praise  of  having 
been  munificent  in  obtaining  the  intellectual  products  of  other 
countries,  and  in  having  translations  made  into  Persian,  and  in 
having  widely  disseminated  them.  He  sent  the  physican  Pe- 
roses  to  India,  to  obtain  the  fables  of  Pilpay,  the  fame  of  which 
had  reached  him.  This  difficult  enterprize  was  accomplished. 
These  fables  have  come,  through  many  versions,  into  some  of 
the  modern  languages  of  Europe;  but  their  original  character 
no  longer  remains.  The  game  of  chess,  invented  in  India, 
was  introduced  to  his  subjects,  by  this  king.  He  founded  a 
school  of  physic,  near  Susa,  the  capital,  at  this  time,  of  Persia, 
which  became  a  school  of  poetry,  philosophy,  and  rhetoric. 

Justinian  lived  to  the  year  565,  and  Chosroes  to  the  year 
569.  During  this  time,  they  had  alternate  war  and  peace,  with 
various  success ;  but  the  Persian  appears  to  have  had  the  ad- 
vantage in  sagacity  and  in  arms.  The  details  of  these  con- 
flicts, as  they  were  void  of  permanent  results,  are  uninterest- 
ing ;  or,  if  otherwise,  there  is  no  space  for  them.  The  seat  of 
the  war  was  between  the  Euphrates  and  the  eastern  part  of 
Asia  Minor,  and  eastwardly  of  the  Mediterranean.  In  550, 
Chosroes  took  and  destroyed  Antioch,  and  affected  to  weep  over 
the  misery  he  was  obliged  to  occasion.  Within  the  next  twenty 
years  he  undertook  the  conquest  of  Arabia,  and  proceeded  to 
the  further  end  of  the  Red  Sea.  Within  this  time,  also,  new 
wars  arose  with  the  successor  of  Justinian.  Chosroes  closed 
his  reign  in  569,  by  dying  of  sorrow,  leaving  a  fame  which 
has  induced  historians  to  confer  on  him  the  title  of  Great;  a 
title  which  he  deserved  more  than  any  of  his  predecessors,  Cy- 
rus only,  excepted. 

After  scenes  of  rebellion,  violence,  and  murder,  inseparable 
from  Oriental  despotism,  Chosroes  II.  appeared  on  the  Persian 
throne  in  614.  In  this  reign,  the  usual  employment  between 
Greeks  and  Persians  was  resumed.  Jerusalem,  at  this  time 
subject  to  the  Greek  emperor,  was  besieged  and  taken  by  as- 
sault. This  warfare  was  instigated  by  the  Magi,  and  twenty- 
five  thousand  Jews  volunteered  to  serve  therein.  The  church- 
es, the  tomb  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  cross,  preserved  there, 


PERSIA    CONQUERED.  525 

were  peculiarly  devoted  to  the  conqueror's  malice.  The  pa- 
triarch Zachariah,  and  the  cross  itself,  were  carried  to  Per- 
sia. Ninety  thousand  Christians,  without  respect  for  age  or 
sex,  were  slaughtered.  Egypt  was  subdued  to  the  confines  of 
Ethiopia ;  and  the  conquests  were  pushed  westvvardly,  to  the 
neighborhood  of  Carthage.  In  Asia  Minor,  Chosroes  was 
master,  even  to  the  Bosphorus,  for  ten  years. 

No  Persian  king  had  more  cause  to  be  proud  of  his  magnifi- 
cence and  glory,  than  Chosroes  II.  His  abode  was  neither  at 
Ctesiphon,  nor  at  Susa,  but  at  Artemita,  about  60  miles  north 
of  the  former,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Tigris.  The  riches  of 
which  he  had  despoiled  the  vanquished,  were  lavished  here,  for 
the  pleasure  of  the  monarch.  Lions  and  tigers  were  turned 
loose  for  the  chace.  Nine  hundred  and  sixty  elephants,  12,000 
camels,  6,000  horses  and  mules,  were  part  of  his  establishment. 
The  daily  guard  of  the  palace  was  6,000,  the  number  of  slaves 
12,000,  the  number  of  selected  females  for  the  seraglio,  3,000. 
The  Roman  historian  adds,  "  The  voice  of  flattery,  perhaps  of 
fiction,  is  not  ashamed  to  compute  the  30,000  rich  hangings  that 
adorned  the  walls ;  the  40,000  columns  of  silver,  or  more  prob- 
ably, of  marble,  and  plated  wood,  that  supported  the  roof — the 
1000  globes  of  gold  suspended  in  the  dome  to  imitate  the  mo- 
tions of  the  planets,  and  the  constellations  of  the  Zodiac." 
While  such  was  the  condition  of  the  exulting  monarch  of  Per- 
sia, he  received  an  invitation  from  an  obscure  citizen  of  Mec- 
ca, inviting  him  to  acknowledge  Mahomet,  or  Mohammed,  as 
the  apostle  of  God.  The  indignant  monarch  tore  the  epistle, 
and  dismissed  the  bearer.  It  will  be  seen  how  easily  the  gran- 
deur of  Oriental  despotism  can  vanish. 

The  efforts  of  the  emperor  Heraclius,  to  retrieve  his  fortunes, 
in  conflict  with  his  Persian  enemy,  have  already  been  narrated. 
The  disasters  of  Chosroes  caused  him  to  be  deposed,  by  his 
own  subjects.  He  witnessed  the  massacre  of  eighteen  of  his 
own  sons,  was  thrown  into  a  dungeon,  and  died  in  five  days 
afterwards.  These  measures  were  conducted  by  his  son  Si- 
roes,  who  assumed  the  crown.  He  reigned  eight  months,  and 
gave  place  to  an  anarchy  of  12  years,  in  which  nine  competi- 
tors were  contending  for  the  mastery.  At  the  end  of  this  pe- 
riod the  followers  of  the  obscure  citizen  of  Mecca  closed  these 
tragical  scenes,  as  will  be  shown  in  the  history  of  this  remark- 
able person,  next  to  be  reviewed. 


526  ARABIA. 


CHAPTER  LXVIII. 

THE    MAHOMMEDAN    RELIGION. 

Arabia — Ancient  Religion — MaJwmet  or  Mohammed. 

This  religion  began  in  Arabia.  This  extensive  country  is 
bounded,  westwardly,  by  that  part  of  Syria  which  lies  eastward- 
ly  of  Palestine;  and  passing  around  Palestine,  south-west- 
wardly,  it  comes  to  the  eastern  boundary  of  Egypt,  between 
the  Mediterranean  and  the  Red  Sea ;  then  by  the  latter  sea, 
south-westwardly,  about  1400  miles.  Then  south-eastvvardly, 
by  the  Arabian  Sea,  1300  miles,  to  the  gulf  of  Ormus;  then 
north-eastvvardly,  by  this  gulf  and  the  Persian  gulf,  900  miles. 
Thence,  bounded  still  north-eastwardly,  along  the  skirt  of  the  de- 
sert, 500  miles,  nearly  parallel  to  the  Euphrates,  and  distant  from 
that  river  about  50  miles,  to  the  34th  degree  of  north  latitude. 
The  form  of  Arabia  is  an  irregular  triangle.  The  northern  part 
of  the  great  desert,  which  is  the  northern  part  of  the  triangle,  lies 
between  Syria  and  the  Euphrates.  Arabia  contains  nearly  one 
half  the  number  of  square  miles  which  are  contained  in  the 
whole  of  the  United  States.  The  capital  of  South  Carolina, 
Columbia,  is  nearly  in  the  same  latitude  with  the  most  north- 
wardly part  of  Arabia.  The  whole  of  Arabia  is,  therefore,  in 
the  same  latitude  with  the  countries,  islands,  and  seas,  which 
lie  between  Columbia,  in  South  Carolina,. and  the  republic  of 
Columbia,  in  South  America. 

In  1702,  Carstens  Niebuhr,  a  Hanoverian  by  birth,  and  fa- 
ther of  the  celebrated  Roman  historian,  visited  Arabia,  as  one 
of  a  scientific  expedition,  sent  out  by  the  Danish  government. 
In  the  following  year  he  published  his  travels.  From  his  ac- 
counts it  is  known,  that  there  are  many  tribes  settled  along  the 
coast  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  the  Arabian  Sea ;  and  some  in  the 
interior,  among  the  mountains.  But  it  also  appears,  from  this 
traveller's  account,  as  it  does  from  others  dating  back  in  far  more 
distant  times,  that  the  largest  part  of  Arabia  consists  of  deserts 
of  burning,  moving  sands. 

Caravans  and  whole  armies  have  sometimes  been  buried 
alive  in  them.  The  northern  part,  next  to  Palestine,  was  once 
a  country  of  numerous  population,  as  is  known  from  Jewish 
history.  Here  lived  the  Edomites,  the  Amalekites,  and  Cush- 
ites  j  and  this  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  country  of  Job ;  it 


ARABIA.  527 

was,  also,  that  in  which  the  Israelites  wandered.  Before  the 
Portuguese  found  the  way  to  India  around  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  a  large  portion  of  the  commerce  with  eastern  regions 
came  up  the  Red  Sea  to  Idumea,  which  was  situate  at  the  north- 
wardly end  of  that  sea.  Hence,  in  Solomon's  time,  it  was  a  very 
rich  country.  It  is  now  mountainous,  rocky  and  barren,  in- 
habited only  by  pastoral  tribes,  who  have  the  common  name 
of  Bedouins,  (children  of  the  desert.)  That  part  of  Arabia 
which  is  connected  with  our  present  purpose,  lies  between  the 
north-east  side  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  a  range  of  mountains  par- 
allel to  it,  and  of  the  average  distance  from  it  of  about  150 
miles.  Passing  from  north  to  south,  between  these  mountains 
and  the  sea,  the  first  city  to  be  mentioned  is  Medina,  situated 
nearly  in  latitude  25,  north.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
further  south,  a  branch  from  these  mountains  runs  to  the  Red 
Sea,  on  the  south  side,  and  at  the  foot  of  this  branch,  is  the  city 
of  Mecca,  lat.  21,  22.,  forty  miles  from  Jedda,  which  is  the 
nearest  port  on  this  sea.  Seven  hundred  miles  further  south  is 
the  south-west  point  of  Arabia,  having,  on  the  west,  the  Red 
Sea,  on  the  south,  the  Straits  of  Babelmandel.  A  part  of  this 
country,  on  both  sides  of  the  point,  and  extending  back  from  it 
three  or  four  hundred  miles,  is  now  called  Yemen,  within 
which  was  Arabia  the  Happy.  This  name  was  not  obtained 
from  its  superiority  over  other  parts  of  the  globe,  but  to  distin- 
guish it  from  other  parts  called  the  Sandy,  and  the  Stoney. 
Arabia  Felix,  or  the  Happy,  was  and  still  is,  the  land  of  frank- 
incense, myrrh,  spices,  gums,  and  of  some  vegetable  produc- 
tions, used  in  medicine.  Moka,  situated  near  the  point,  is  the 
port  at  which  a  superior  kind  of  coffee  is  obtained. 

There  is  a  tradition,  that  the  family  which  rules  at  a  place 
called  Saba,  are  the  descendants  of  Balkis,  the  queen  of  Sheba, 
who  visited  Solomon.  But  there  is  a  similar  tradition  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Red  Sea,  as  to  a  princely  family  there.  If 
the  one  or  the  other  be  true,  the  lineage  of  Solomon  and  Bal- 
kis is  the  oldest  known  in  the  world.  This  celebrated  queen 
approached  Jerusalem  from  the  south,  but  whether  from  Arabia, 
or  Abyssinia,  the  curious  must  still  remain  in  doubt. 

Arabia  is  not,  in  the  opinion  of  the  German  historian,  Muller, 
the  country  originally  of  the  horse.  He  thinks  it  was  Kuku, 
a  country  somewhere  west  or  south  of  Egypt.  But  the  horse 
is  no  where  a  finer  animal,  or  more  valued  or  cherished.  Ped- 
igrees are  alleged  to  be  carefully  preserved,  extending  back 
through  centuries.  This  is  the  country  of  the  camel,  of  which 
there  are  two  kinds,  one  of  which  outstrips  the  fleetest  horse. 


528  ARABIA. 

The  former  has  two  humps  on  the  back,  and  is  the  camel  of 
burthen.  The  latter  has  one  hump,  and  is,  properly,  the  drom- 
edary: this  name  comes  from  the  addition  of  the  word  dromos, 
or  runner,  by  the  Greeks,  to  the  word  which  expressed  the 
name  of  camel.  The  camel  of  burthen  is  called  the  living 
skip  of  the  Arab,  in  his  ocean  of  sand.  A  learned  writer  says 
of  this  camel, — "  While  he  bears  double  the  burthen  of  the 
mule,  he  is  more  frugal  than  the  ass;  his  flesh  is  not  less  es- 
teemed as  food,  than  that  of  the  calf;  the  value  of  his  hair 
rivals  the  finest  fleece;  his  dung  serves  as  fuel,  and  his  urine 
yields  sal-ammoniac.  He  often  marches  three  or  four  hundred 
leagues  without  drinking  more  than  once  in  eight  or  ten  days, 
or  eating  any  thing  in  the  space  of  four-and-tvventy  hours,  ex- 
cept a  few  thistles,  or  stalks  of  wormwood.  He  bears,  for  weeks, 
a  load  of  1300  pounds,  without  ever  being  lightened  of  his 
burthen."  Such  an  animal  seems  to  have  been  providentially 
bestowed  on  such  a  country  as  Arabia. 

This  extraordinary  abstinence  of  the  camel  is  accounted  for 
by  the  fact  that  he  has  a  separate  stomach,  appropriated  exclu- 
sively to  the  reception  of  water.  The  bewildered  Arab  is  some- 
times reduced  to  the  hard  necessity  of  deciding  whether  he  will 
submit  to  perish  himself,  or  prolong  his  chance  of  life  by  slay- 
ing his  precious  camel,  to  obtain  the  contents  of  his  stomach. 

The  whole  population  of  Arabia  is  computed,  at  the  present 
day,  at  10  or  12  millions.  The  most  ancient  race  of  Arabs 
derive  their  origin  from  Heber,  four  generations  before  Abra- 
ham. The  second  race,  from  Ishmael,  the  son  of  Abraham 
and  Hagar,  of  whose  posterity  it  was  declared,  "  their  hand 
shall  be  against  every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  against 
them."  The  Arabians  boast  that  their  country  has  never  been 
conquered,  while  their  nation  has  conquered  more  than  half  of 
the  Eastern  world.  They  are  to  be  credited,  in  some  respects, 
in  their  boasting,  for  nature  has  made  most  of  their  country  un- 
assailable. Parts  of  it  have  been  conquered.  In  the  year  600 
of  the  Christian  era,  Arabia  was  held  by  various  native  tribes 
of  Arabs ;  some  of  whom  were  Nomads,  or  wanderers,  with 
their  flocks  and  herds ;  some  were  robbers,  or  plunderers  of 
caravans;  some  were  merchants ;  some  cultivators  of  the  earth; 
some  mechanics ;  a  few  of  them  were  inferior  manufacturers. 

The  trade  with  the  east  was  carried  on  through  their  coun- 
try, the  merchant  ships,  and  the  caravans,  meeting  in  Arabia 
the  Happy.  Besides  the  Arabs,  there  were  settlements  of  Jews 
and  Christians,  who  had  sought  an  rasylum  in  this  country 
from  various  persecutions.     All  the  Arabians  were  idolaters 


MECCA.  529 

worshipping  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  and  a  multitude  of  gods 
of  their  own  making.  They  entertained  many  absurd  super- 
stitions. They  had  two  solitary  virtues,  those  of  charity  and 
hospitality,  but  exercised  only  under  peculiar  circumstances. 
Their  enmity  was  cruel  and  merciless.  They  were  of.  middle 
stature,  abstemious,  brave,  and  hardy.  Under  an  exterior  of 
extreme  gravity,  they  had  violent  passions,  and  an  ardent  im- 
agination. 

As  further  introduction  to  Mahommedanism,  there  is  an  en- 
closure at  Mecca,  a  square  surrounded  with  colonnades  and 
adorned  with  minarets.  In  this  square  are  six  or  eight  chap- 
els, and  a  square  building  of  stone  called  the  Kaaba,  which  is 
the  sacred  spot  of  this  religion.  The  Kaaba  dates  from  the 
time  of  Abraham,  at  whose  solicitations  the  Arabians  believe 
it  to  have  been  let  down  from  heaven.  Within  this  building, 
at  the  south-east  corner,  about  four  feet  from  the  ground,  is  the 
black  stone,  fixed  in  that  wall,  and  ever  held  sacred  by  Arabi- 
ans, whether  in  the  time  of  their  idolatry  or  Mahommedanism: 
this  veneration  is  founded  on  the  belief,  that  the  black  stone 
represents  the  earth,  the  mother  of  all,  around  which  the  cha- 
otic matter  was  originally  distributed  and  reduced  to  order. 
(Miiller's  Universal  History.)  Among  the  fables  transmitted 
is  this :  that  the  stone  was  sacred  on  earth  before  the  deluge, 
and  was  preserved  from  the  general  desolation  of  that  event, 
by  being  taken  up  into  heaven,  and  afterwards  restored  to  Abra- 
ham, who  placed  it  in  the  Kaaba.  This  temple  contained  360 
images,  intended,  perhaps,  to  represent  the  days  of  the  year, 
according  to  the  Arabian  calendar.  On  the  top  was  a  superior 
image,  called  the  God  Kobal,  which  may  have  represented  the 
sun.     [Malte  Brun's  Geography.] 

Within  the  enclosure  which  surrounds  the  Kaaba,  is  the  sa- 
cred well  Zem  Zem,  whose  waters  (it  is  said)  can  wash  away 
even  moral  pollution.  Around  the  Kaaba,  before  Mahomme- 
danism was  established,  the  idolatrous  Arabs  performed  their 
sacrifices  and  other  religious  ceremonies,  not,  however,  in  ref- 
erence to  its  supposed  founder,  who  had  been  long  forgotten  by 
them  as  an  object  of  veneration.  There  were  family  distinc- 
tions among  the  Arabians,  as  there  are  among  most  of  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth.  These  were  derived  from  the  common 
sources,  military  renown,  abundant  riches,  hereditary  rights,  or 
official  dignity.  There  were  princes,  and  there  were  noble 
families,  whose  various  branches  had  a  common  appellation. 
This  distinction  of  families  was  common  in  the  east,  and  still 
exists  among  the  Scottish  clans. 
45 


530  MAHOMMEDAN   NAMES. 

Those  who  profess  Mahommedanism  are  called  Musulmen, 
or  Musslemen,  Moslems,  or  Mahommedans — names  of  the  same 
signification,  importing  that  one  has  given  himself  up  entirely 
to  the  faith  of  that  religion,  which  faith  is  expressed  by  the 
word  Islam.  Mahommedanism  and  Islamism  are  synonymous. 
The  name  Arabia  means  the  land  of  the  west ;  as  it,  in  truth,  is, 
relatively  to  the. rest  of  Asia.  When  Mahomet's  followers 
had  conquered  the  east,  and  had  turned  their  faces  westward, 
they  were  called  Saracens,  which  means  a  people  from  the  east. 
This  name  was  applied  in  common  to  them,  and  to  Turks,  who 
were  from  the  east,  and  who  first  mingled  with  the  Arabians 
and  then  overthrew  them ;  and  to  Tartars,  still  further  from  the 
east,  who  overthrew  the  Turks,  and  mingled  with  them.  The 
name  of  Saracen  has  disappeared  in  that  of  Ottoman  of  the 
present  day,  which  is  an  odious  compound  of  Arabian,  Turk, 
and  Tartar,  whose  bond  of  union  is  Mahommedanism. 

Mahomet  was  of  noble,  if  not  princely  origin.  He  was  of 
the  tribe  of  Koreish,  and  of  the  family  of  Hashem,  one  of  the 
most  illustrious  of  the  Arabs,  the  princes  of  Mecca,  and  he- 
reditary guardians  of  the  Kaaba.  The  grandfather  was  Ab- 
dol  Motallet,  the  son  of  Hashem.  The  father  was  Abdallah, 
the  mother,  Amina,  and  Mahomet,  their  only  son,  was  born  at 
Mecca,  in  the  year  369.  While  he  was  in  infancy,  his  parents, 
and  his  grandfather  died.  He  had  several  uncles,  who  were 
rich  and  powerful,  though  his  own  inheritance  was  five  camels, 
and  one  Ethiopian  female  slave.  His  uncle,  Abu  Taleb,  was 
his  guardian.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  entered  the  ser- 
vice of  Cadijah,  a  rich  and  noble  widow  of  Mecca,  whom  he 
soon  married,  and  was  thus  restored  to  the  ancient  rank  of  his 
family.  Mahomet  was  distinguished  by  a  manly  beauty.  In 
the  words  of  Gibbon — "  Before  he  spoke,  the  orator  engaged 
on  his  side,  the  affections  of  a  public  or  private  audience. 
They  applauded  his  commanding  presence,  his  majestic  aspect, 
his  piercing  eye,  his  gracious  smile,  his  flowing  beard,  his 
countenance  that  painted  every  sensation  of  the  soul ;  and  his 
gestures  that  enforced  every  expression  of  the  tongue.  His 
memory  was  capacious  and  retentive ;  his  wit  easy  and  social, 
his  imagination  sublime,  his  judgment  clear,  rapid  and  decisive. 
He  possessed  the  courage  both  of  thought  and  action."  Yet, 
Gibbon  adds,  after  such  commendation,  that  he  was  an  "  illite- 
rate barbarian."  In  his  youth  he  is  said  to  have  made  but  two 
journies  beyond  Arabia,  one  when  he  was  thirteen  years  of 
age,  and  one  when  he  had  entered  the  service  of  Cadijah;  the 
first,  to  Bastra,  a  city  eastwardly  of  the  Jordan,  the  other  to 


MAHOMET.  531 

Damascus,  as  one  of  a  caravan.  He  is  not  supposed  to  have 
derived  his  plans  from  these  journies,  nor  had  he  the  means 
of  learning  more  of  the  countries  which  he  saw,  than  the  eye 
could  impart,  for  he  was  ignorant  of  every  language  but  his 
own.  It  is  probable  that  his  future  celebrity  was  the  work  of 
his  own  genius. 

Before  his  time,  one  month  in  the  year,  that  of  Ramadan, 
was  devoted  by  the  Arabs  to  fasting  and  prayer.  This  month 
Mahomet  used  to  pass  alone,  in  the  cave  of  Hera,  three  miles 
from  Mecca.  Here  he  is  supposed  to  have  engendered,  in  fraud 
or  enthusiasm,  his  plan  of  converting  the  world  to  a  new,  or 
rather  to  a  reformed  religion,  comprehended  in  the  expression 
which  forms  the  faith  of  the  Mahommedan  to  the  present  day  : 
"  There  is  only  one  God,  and  Mahomet  is  the  apostle  of  God." 
**He  rejected,"  says  Gibbon,  "the  worship  of  idols  and  of  men, 
of  stars  and  planets,  on  the  rational  principle  that  whatever 
rises  must  set ;  that  whatever  is  born  must  die ;  that  whatever 
is  corruptible  must  decay  and  perish."  He  assumed  to  be  a 
prophet  at  the  age  of  forty. 

His  first  convert  was  Cadijah ;  the  second,  Varaca,  his  father- 
in-law;  the  third,  his  faithful  servant  Zeid;  the  fourth,  Ali,  the 
son  of  his  uncle  Abu  Taleb ;  and  next  Ahubeker,  whose  wealth, 
influence  and  character  were  a  great  acquisition.  In  three 
years  he  had  acquired  only  fourteen  proselytes.  He  now  felt 
sufficiently  assured  of  success,  to  invite  all  the  members  of  his 
family  to  a  festival.  To  this  assembly  he  said, — "  Friends  and 
kinsmen !  I  offer  you,  and  I  alone  can  offer  the  most  pre- 
cious of  gifts,  the  treasures  of  this  world,  and  of  the  world  to 
come.  God  has  commanded  me  to  call  you  to  his  service. 
Who  among  you  will  support  my  burthen  ?  Who  among  you 
will  be  my  companion,  and  my  vizier  1 "  Astonishment,  doubt, 
and  contempt  pervaded  the  assembly,  till  Ali,  then  only  four- 
teen years  of  age,  arose  and  said,  "  O  prophet !  I  am  the  man  j 
whosoever  rises  against  thee  I  will  dash  out  his  teeth,  tear  out 
his  eyes,  break  his  legs,  and  rip  up  his  body.  Oh  prophet ! 
I  will  be  thy  vizier." 

The  progress  of  Mahomet  was  slow  and  difficult.  He  en- 
countered the  deep-rooted  prejudices  of  his  countrymen.  They 
were  offended  by  his  audacity  and  presumption.  He  gained 
over,  however,  his  uncle  Hamza,  and  the  fierce  and  inflexible 
Omar.  He  now  ventured  to  appear  in  the  Kaaba,  and  pro- 
mulgated his  doctrines  to  the  crowds  who  periodically  as- 
sembled there  to  perform  their  religious  ceremonies.  But  the 
prophet  was  assailed  by  envy  and  malice,  and  with  the  charge 


532  MAHOMET. 

of  attempting  to  subvert  the  ancient  religion  of  his  countrymen. 
In  Mecca,  especially,  where  he  was  best  known,  he  had  little 
credit  as  a  prophet,  and  abundant  reproach  as  a  fanatic  and 
impostor.  His  own  tribe,  the  Koreish,  were  his  bitterest  ene- 
mies, and  they  included  with  him  the  whole  family  of  Hashem. 
They  decreed,  and  the  decree  was  suspended  in  the  Kaaba, 
that  they  would  neither  buy  nor  sell,  marry  nor  give  in  mar- 
riage, with  the  family  of  Hashem,  until  the  person  of  Mahomet 
was  given  up  to  the  justice  of  the  gods.  While  the  prophet 
was  thus  menaced,  he  lost  his  faithful  Cadijah.  Abu  Sophian, 
of  the  family  of  Ommiyah,  succeeded  to  the  principality  of 
Mecca.  This  person  was  devoted  to  the  ancient  worship  of 
idols,  and  was  the  implacable  foe  of  the  family  of  Hashem. 
The  death  of  Mahomet  was  resolved  on,  and  he  had  no  re- 
source but  flight.  In  the  dead  of  night,  accompanied  only  by 
Abubeker,  he  escaped  from  his  house.  They  concealed  them- 
selves three  days  in  the  cave  of  Thor,  a  league  from  Mecca. 
While  here,  they  heard  their  pursuers,  but  the  appearance  of 
a  spider's  web  over  the  entrance  to  the  cave,  and  of  a  pigeon's 
nest  near  it,  led  them  to  suppose  the  place  solitary,  and  they 
turned  away  to  make  further  search.  When  Abubeker  heard 
them,  he  said, — "  We  are  only  two."  "  There  is  a  third,'1 
said  the  prophet,  "  it  is  God  himself." 

From  this  cave,  Mahomet  and  Abubeker  directed  their 
flight  to  Medina.  They  were  overtaken  by  their  pursuers, 
but  escaped  through  prayers  and  promises.  Gibbon  remarks, 
that  one  thrust  of  a  lance  might  now  have  changed  the  destiny 
of  the  world.  From  this  flight  of  the  prophet,  (from  Mecca 
to  Medina,)  Mahommedans  compute  their  years,  under  the 
name  of  the  Hegira,  or  flight.  This  is  the  era  of  the  follow- 
ers of  Mahomet,  and  commences  on  the  16th  of  July,  622. 
It  was  not  established  till  the  time  of  Omar,  the  next  but  one 
of  the  prophet's  successors,  in  the  year  634.  Mahomet  was 
well  received  at  Medina,  as  some  of  its  noblest  citizens  had 
been  converted  during  their  visits  to  Mecca.  He  stopped  at 
Koba,  two  miles  from  Medina,  and  there  entered  into  a  solemn 
contract  with  a  deputation,  which  Gibbon  considers  to  have 
been  the  first  vital  spark  of  the  empire  of  the  Saracens.  On 
the  sixteenth  day  of  his  flight,  he  entered  the  city  in  a  sort  of 
triumph.  Here  his  disciples,  who  had  been  dispersed  by  the 
persecutions  at  Mecca,  assembled  around  him,  and  among  them 
Ali.  Mahomet  assumed  the  dignity  of  royalty,  combined 
with  that  of  the  holy  prophet.  At  the  end  of  six  years,  he 
could  number  fifteen  hundred  Moslems  or  followers,  well- 


MAHOMET.  533 

armed,  and  ready  to  shed  their  blood  for  him  and  his  religion. 
Such  was  the  veneration  for  the  prophet,  that  a  hair  which 
fell  from  his  head,  and  the  water  in  which  he  had  washed, 
were  preserved,  as  though  they  contained  some  prophetic 
virtue. 

Thus  strengthened,  Mahomet  began  to  show  his  earthly 
ambition.  He  proclaimed  peace  and  fraternity  to  all  who  em- 
braced his  religion — war  and  extermination  to  all  who  did  not. 
The  surrounding  country  first  felt  the  force  of  the  warlike 
prophet.  He  fought,  in  person,  in  ten  battles  or  sieges,  and 
accomplished  fifty  military  enterprises  himself,  or  by  his  lieu- 
tenants, in  his  first  ten  years.  One  fifth  of  all  the  spoils  was 
preserved  by  the  prophet  for  pious  and  charitable  uses ;  the 
residue  was  distributed  among  his  armed  followers.  The 
caravans  which  passed  along  the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea  were 
subjected  to  the  plunder  of  the  Mahommedans.  The  com- 
merce with  Mecca  was  thus  interrupted,  and  his  former  ene- 
mies, the  Koreish,  assembled  a  numerous  force  to  proceed  to 
Medina,  and  annihilate  the  prophet  and  his  robbers.  The 
opposing  forces  met  a  few  miles  south  of  Medina.  Those  of 
his  enemies  greatly  outnumbered  those  of  the  prophet.  Seated 
on  a  throne  whence  he  overlooked  the  battle,  he  saw  that  his 
own  troops  were  on  the  point  of  yielding,  when,  starting  from 
his  seat,  he  took  up  a  handful  of  sand,  and,  casting  it  into  the 
air,  exclaimed,  in  a  tremendous  voice, — M  Let  their  faces  be 
covered  with  confusion."  The  Koreish  trembled  and  fled. 
This  defeat  only  stimulated  Abu  Sophian,  the  prince  of  Mecca, 
to  appear,  in  person,  with  a  still  greater  force.  The  second 
battle  was  fought  six  miles  from  Medina.  But  here  the  proph- 
et was  vanquished,  having  been  wounded  in  the  face  by  a 
javelin,  and  having  two  of  his  teeth  knocked  out  by  a  stone. 
Yet  he  rallied  the  faithful,  and  the  prince  of  Mecca  did  not 
see  fit  to  besiege  Medina.  In  the  following  year,  ten  thousand 
men  appeared  before  Medina,  composed  of  various  nations, 
and  led  by  Abu  Sophian.  The  prophet  declined  a  battle,  and, 
during  the  twenty  days'  siege,  he  artfully  fomented  divisions 
among  his  enemies,  and  a  tempest  having  overturned  their 
tents,  the  allies  of  the  Koreish  deserted,  and  the  siege  was 
abandoned. 

45* 


534  MAHOMET. 

CHAPTER  LXIX. 

mahomet's  progress — death — abubeker — omak. 

The  prophet  next  made  war  on  the  Jews,  who  were  settled 
in  Arabia.  Towards  that  nation  he  entertained  an  implacable 
hatred.  He  took  from  them  all  they  possessed,  but  their  lives, 
and  exiled  them  to  Syria.  He  next  ventured  to  approach 
Mecca.  He  was  met  within  a  day's  journey  of  the  city  by 
his  enemies,  the  Koreish,  supported  by  numerous  allies.  He 
was  adroit  enough  to  waive  his  apostolic  dignity,  and  to  obtain 
a  truce  of  ten  years,  stipulating,  among  other  things,  that  he 
might  enter  the  city  as  a  devout  pilgrim,  and  render  his  hom- 
age at  the  Kaaba.  Within  these  ten  years,  he  entered  Mecca 
in  triumph,  and  even  the  proud  Abu  Sophian,  in  surrendering 
the  keys  of  the  city,  confessed  (under  the  scimetar  of  Omar) 
that  Mahomet  was  the  Apostle  of  the  true  God.  Between 
the  years  629  and  632,  the  whole  of  Arabia  had  submitted 
to  Mahomet.  The  ambition  of  the  prophet  was  far  from 
being  satisfied  wTith  these  conquests.  He  now  turned  his  at- 
tention to  Palestine  and  to  Syria.  While  the  emperor  Herac- 
lius  was  returning  from  the  east  to  Constantinople,  an  embassy 
from  Mahomet  met  him,  and  invited  him  and  his  empire  to 
embrace  the  Mahommedan  faith.  This  being  refused,  -three 
thousand  men  were  despatched  to  invade  Palestine.  A  battle 
was  fought  at  Muta,  (supposed  to  be  on  the  eastern  side  of 
Palestine,)  where  the  faithful  Zeid  was  slain.  The  names  of 
Jaafar,  Abdallah,  and  Caled,  are  celebrated  in  this  battle. 
Jaafar  bore  the  holy  standard.  When  he  lost  his  right  hand, 
he  held  the  standard  with  the  left ;  when  this  was  severed,  he 
clasped  the  standard  with  his  bleeding  stumps.  He  fell  with 
fifty  wounds.  Abdallah  stepped  into  the  vacant  place  and 
bore  up  the  standard,  till  a  Roman  lance  laid  him  on  the  earth. 
Caled,  surnamed  the  Sword  of  God,  rescued  the  standard. 
Nine  swords  were  broken  in  his  hand,  but  he  succeeded  in 
repelling  the  superior  number  of  the  Christians.  Such  was 
the  valor  and  enthusiasm  with  which  Mahomet  had  inspired 
the  faithful.  It  will  be  seen  how  far  this  spirit  has  extended 
his  name  and  his  faith.  Mahomet  now  undertook  a  more 
serious  enterprise  against  the  Roman  empire,  and  embodied  a 
large  force  which  he  led  himself  half  way  towards  Palestine ; 
but,  excessive  heat  in  traversing  the  desert,  and  the  suffering 


KORAN.  535 

from  the  want  of  water,  discouraged  his  army,  and  the  enter- 
prise was  given  up. 

On  his  return  to  Mecca,  the  prophet's  health  was  seen  to  be 
much  impaired.  He  is  said  to  have  considered  a  slow  poison, 
administered  by  a  revengeful  Jewess,  to  be  the  true  cause  of 
his  decline.  The  immediate  cause  of  his  death  was  a  fever 
of  fourteen  days.  He  was  aware  of  his  approaching  dissolu- 
tion, and  it  might  have  been  expected  that  he  would,  in  some 
way,  have  disclosed  his  own  opinions  of  the  reality  of  his 
mission.  But  he  persevered  to  the  end,  and  died  consistently 
with  the  high  dignity  he  had  assumed,  declaring  that  the 
angel  of  death  had  no  power  to  take  his  soul  until  he  had 
given  his  consent.  This  he  affected  to  give,  and  expired  on  a 
carpet  spread  on  the  floor,  his  head  resting  on  the  lap  of  Aye- 
sha,  June  7,  632,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three.  Mahomet  thus 
left  to  the  speculation  of  future  ages,  whether  he  was  a  mere 
fanatic,  sincerely  believing  in  all  that  he  professed  to  believe, 
or  whether  he  was  an  ingenious  and  successful  hypocrite.  It 
is  probable  that  he  began  in  the  disbelief  of  his  divine  mission, 
and  equally  probable  that  an  ardent  Arabian  imagination  might 
discipline  itself  into  a  conviction  that  he  was  divinely  commis- 
sioned. Whether  it  was  the  one  or  the  other,  or  a  mixture  of 
credulity  and  hypocrisy,  it  was  necessary,  to  the  honor  of  his 
fame,  that  he  should  die  as  the  "  Apostle'  of  God." 

The  Koran  was  compiled  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  Old 
and  of  the  New  Testament ;  within  six  hundred  miles  of  Je- 
rusalem, and  about  half  that  distance  from  the  land  in  which 
,the  book  of  Job  is  supposed  to  have  been  written.  Whatso- 
ever the  Koran  contains  of  reasonable,  sublime,  or  beautiful, 
was  borrowed  from  the  Old  Testament ;  all  that  deserves  the 
name  of  good  morals,  was  taken  from  the  New  Testament. 
The  Koran  is  without  method  or  order,  and  abounds  in  con- 
tradictions and  repetitions.  The  author  obtained  from  Gabriel 
successive  chapters,  to  excuse  or  justify  his  own  conduct,  or 
enforce  his  new  orders.  The  last  communication  from  the 
angel  repealed  all  former  ones,  if  inconsistent  with  the  last. 
Mahomet's  mother  was  a  well-informed  Jewess,  and  he  had  a 
monk  and  a  Jew  in  his  own  house.  Such  is  the  statement  to 
account  for  the/abrication  of  the  Koran.  Mahomet  declared 
that  it  was  originally  written  by  the  hand  of  the  Almighty, 
on  the  skin  of  the  goat  which  Abraham  sacrificed  in  place  of 
his  son,  and  that  it  was  brought  down  and  delivered  to  him  by 
the  angel  Gabriel,  in  parcels,  at  various  times.  [American 
Encyclopaedia — Koran.]     This  book  is  about  the  size  of  the 


536 

New  Testament.  Its  parts  were  collected  into  a  volume,  after 
the  prophet's  death,  in  634.  Its  contents  are  the  supreme 
law,  religious,  social,  civil,  and  military,  for  about  one  seventh 
part  of  the  whole  population  of  the  earth. 

The  private  life  of  Mahomet  was  subject  to  many  infirmi- 
ties and  reproaches,  nor  is  there  a  single  instance  of  a  redeem- 
ing virtue,  unless  it  be  true  that  he  was  grateful.  He  placed 
his  wife  Cadijah  among  the  four  perfect  women,  whom  he 
considered  to  be,  the  sister  of  Moses,  the  mother  of  our  Sav- 
iour, his  daughter  Fatima,  and  Cadijah.  The  most  beloved 
of  his  eleven  wives,  Ayesha,  the  daughter  of  Abubeker,  once 
said  to  Mahomet,  (in  the  consciousness  of  youth  and  beauty,) 
when  he  spoke  respectfully  of  Cadijah, — "  Has  not  God  given 
you  a  better  one  in  her  place  1 "  "  No,"  he  answered,  "  there 
never  can  be  a  better.  She  believed  in  me  when  men  despised 
me;  she  relieved  my  wants  when  I  was  poor  and  persecuted 
by  the  world."  The  civil  government  of  the  prophet  was 
salutary  to  his  countrymen.  He  established  order,  and  pro- 
vided for  the  punishment  of  crimes.  As  a  temporal  prince,  he 
may  be  entitled  to  commendations.  He  was  grievously  dis- 
appointed in  not  having  an  heir  to  his  empire.  His  four  sons 
by  Cadijah  died  in  infancy.  His  son  by  an  Egyptian  concu- 
bine died  at  the  age  of  fifteen  months.  Ten  of  his  wives 
were  widows  when  he  married  them,  neither  of  whom  gave 
him  any  child ;  but  he  had  four  daughters  by  Cadijah,  who 
were  married  among  the  most  exalted  of  his  disciples.  His 
daughter  Fatima,  the  child  of  Ayesha,  shared  largely  in  his 
affections.  The  Fatimites,  who,  at  an  after  period,  arose  in , 
Egypt,  a  denomination  of  Moslems,  derive  their  name  from 
this  daughter.  When  the  excessive  irregularities  of  the 
prophet  shocked  his  harem  and  the  faithful,  the  angel  Gabriel 
always  helped  him  to  an  exculpatory  page.  The  prohibition 
of  wine,  under  the  awful  denunciations  of  the  Koran,  may 
have  been  from  a  wise  policy,  to  prevent  the  contentions  and 
infirmities  which  an  inordinate  use  of  it  is  apt  to  produce. 
The  prohibition  of  swine's  flesh  was  common  among  Egyp- 
tians and  Jews,  for  ages  before  Mahomet  appeared.  The  pro- 
hibition undoubtedly  arose  from  the  belief  that  such  food 
brought  on  certain  horrible  diseases,  which  were  of  frequent 
occurrence  in  Egypt  and  southern  Asia.  This  prohibition 
was  severely  enforced  by  the  prophet. 

Fatalism  is,  to  the  present  day,  a  strict  point  in  the  creed  of 
every  true  Mussulman.  But  this  ingenious  prophet  was  ap- 
prehensive that  all  his  purposes  might  not  be  answered  by  the 


537 

gift  of  the  persons  and  property  of  all  the  unbelievers  on  the 
earth,  and  by  the  assurance  that  no  one  could  avoid  dying  in 
battle,  to  whom  that  death  had  been  foreordained,  nor  so  die, 
if  it  had  not  been.  He  promised  the  joys  of  heaven  to  all 
who  fell  in  his  cause,  and  made  these  joys  exceedingly  capti- 
vating to  an  Arabian  imagination.  A  respectable  historian 
gives  this  account  of  the  prophet's  heaven,  as  the  reward  of 
every  true  believer : — "  Seventy  most  beautiful  women  ;  a  tent 
of  incomparable  costliness  ;  a  prodigious  number  of  servants ; 
the  choicest  wines,  free  from  intoxicating  qualities,  and  pre- 
sented in  golden  goblets ;  the  most  delicious  food ;  the  most 
sumptuous  dresses,  and  renovated  youth  that  would  endure 
forever."  But  unbelievers  he  threatened  with  torments  as 
enduring  and  as  terrible  as  the  joys  of  heaven  were  desirable. 

To  these  may  be  added  a  short  account  of  the  present  creed 
of  Islamism,  or  Mahometan  faith.  Mahomet  was  the  last  of 
the  prophets ;  his  name  is  written  on  all  the  gates  of  paradise. 
The  devil  was  cast  out  at  his  birth.  He  visited  the  seven 
heavens,  and  was  superior  to  all  men  in  genius  and  wisdom. 
He  performed  three  thousand  miracles,  besides  those  in  the 
Alcoran,  which  contains  sixty  thousand  in  itself,  as  every  verse 
is  a  miracle.  He  cleft  the  moon.  Fountains  of  pure  waters 
have  gushed  from  his  fingers.  God  divides  with  him  his 
blessings,  and  has  ordered  the  universe  to  obey  him.  The 
earth  belongs  to  him  ;  and  before  him  it  was  stained  by  Chris- 
tians, idolaters,  and  Jews.  He  purified  it  by  his  doctrine. 
Mahomet  instituted  prayer,  the  custom  of  washing  hands  after 
meats,  of  making  a  hollow  on  one  side  of  the  tomb,  the  fash- 
ion of  wearing  turbans,  with  streamers  hanging  from  behind, 
a  mark  of  distinction  even  among  angels.  Mahomet  had  the 
privilege  of  committing  murder  in  all  the  sacred  territory, 
even  in  Mecca  ;  to  judge  according  to  his  will;  to  receive 
presents  ;  to  parcel  out  lands  even  before  he  had  possession  of 
them.  The  best  spoils  were  his.  Celestial  spirits  obeyed 
him.  The  angel  of  death  could  not  take  his  soul  till  he  had 
first  asked  his  permission. 

True  Moslems  have  a  string  of  beads  around  the  neck,  and 
each  bead,  as  counted  over,  is  to  remind  the  disciples  of  the 
various  qualities  of  the  founder  of  his  religion,  or  of  his  mira- 
cles. The  Catholics  also  have  strings  of  beads.  There  is  a 
natural  similarity  between  the  benedictions,  privileges,  and 
assurances  dispensed  by  the  popes  to  the  crusaders,  and  those 
announced  to  his  followers  by  the  accomplished  and  successful 
Napoleon  of  the  Arabs, 


538 

"  The  sword,"  says  Mahomet,  "  is  the  key  of  heaven  and 
hell.  A  drop  of  blood  spent  in  the  cause  of  God,  a  night 
spent  in  arms,  is  of  more  avail  than  two  months  of  fasting  or 
prayer.  Whoever  falls  in  battle,  his  sins  are  forgiven  ;  at  the 
day  of  judgment  his  wounds  shall  be  resplendent  as  vermilion, 
and  odoriferous  as  musk ;  the  loss  of  limbs  shall  be  supplied 
with  the  wings  of  angels  and  of  cherubim."  His  followers 
advanced  fearlessly  to  battle.  Where  there  is  no  chance  there 
is  no  danger. 

As  the  prophet  had  created  the  Mahometan  throne  by  his 
own  genius  and  valor,  he  had  a  much  better  right  to  dispose 
of  it,  by  naming  a  successor,  than  despotic  monarchs  generally 
have  had.  This  he  did  not  do,  and  contentions  arose  among 
his  chiefs.  On  the  one  part,  the  pretensions  of  Ali,  the  first 
of  his  avowed  adherents,  and  the  husband  of  his  favorite 
child,  Fatima,  were  strongly  supported.  On  another  part  it 
was  insisted  upon,  that  the  prophet  intended  to  leave  the  suc- 
cessor to  choice,  or  he  would  have  chosen  one  to  take  his 
place.  This  latter  opinion  prevailed,  and  Abdallah  Bbn  Abu 
Koafas,  surnamed  Abubeker,  was  elected.  This  surname  is 
differently  understood  by  different  writers.  It  has  been  said  to 
signify  the  father  of  the  virgin,  as  this  person  stood  in  that 
relation  to  Ayesha,  who  was  the  only  one  of  the  prophet's 
wives  who  had  not  been  previously  a  wife  when  married  to 
him.  It  has  also  been  said  to  signify  the  first  witness,  and  the 
faithful  witness.  He  took  the  titular  distinction  of  caliph, 
which  is  said  to  mean  vice-general,  or  the  substitute  for  the 
prophet.  He  was  far  advanced  when  elected.  He  ruled  two 
years  and  four  months,  and  assumed  to  name  Omar  as  his 
successor.  When  Omar  was  informed  of  this,  he  went  to  the 
caliph  and  told  him  that  he  had  no  occasion  for  the  place. 
That  may  be  true,  said  the  caliph,  but  the  place  has  occasion 
for  you. 

In  the  reign  of  Abubeker,  the  first  caliph,  (632 — 634,) 
Caled,  surnamed  the  Sword  of  God,  led  an  army  from  Medina 
across  the  Desert,  to  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  and  thus 
invaded  the  Persian  empire.  "  In  his  first  year,"  says  an 
Arabian  historian,  "  Caled  fought  many  signal  battles ;  an 
immense  number  of  the  infidels  was  slaughtered,  and  spoils 
infinite  and  innumerable  were  acquired  by  the  victorious  Mos- 
lems." The  Persian  kingdom,  convulsed  by  internal  divi- 
sions, made  a  feeble  effort  to  resist  the  Arabians.  The  house 
of  Sassanides  then  reigned,  but  it  was  destined  to  fall,  and, 
with  it,  the  religion  long  cherished,  of  which  Zoroaster  was 


ARABIAN    CONQUESTS.  539 

the  founder.  The  final  struggle  of  Persian  power  was  at 
the  battle  of  Cadesia,  sixty-one  leagues  south-westwardly  from 
the  present  Bagdad,  and,  perhaps,  a  fourth  part  of  that  distance 
from  Cufa.  The  contest  has  obtained  the  distinction,  in  his- 
tory, of  "  obstinate  and  atrocious." 

After  the  battle,  in  the  year  636,  the  Arabians  founded  the 
city  of  Bosra,  or  Bassora,  forty  miles  below  the  confluence  of 
the  Euphrates,  on  the  Tigris,  and  forty  miles  above  the  north- 
wardly end  of  the  Gulf  of  Persia.  Bassora  is  still  a  com- 
mercial city.  Yezdeyard,  the  last  king  of  the  Sassanides 
family,  fled  north-eastwardly,  to  the  hills  of  ancient  Media, 
and  his  seat  of  empire,  the  city  and  palace  of  Ctesiphon,  near 
the  spot  on  which  Bagdad  stands,  became  the  spoil  of  the 
Mahometans.  Among  the  spoils  was  a  magazine  of  camphor, 
which  was  used,  with  a  mixture  of  wax,  to  light  the  palaces 
of  the  east.  The  extent  of  a  hall  in  the  palace  of  Ctesiphon 
is  known  by  the  carpet  which  covered  the  floor.  It  was  a 
square  of  silk,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  on  each  side.  It 
was  richly  wrought,  with  brilliant  and  golden  colors,  to  repre- 
sent a  garden.  It  was  sent  entire  to  the  venerable  caliph  at 
Medina.  This  royal  residence,  after  the  pillage  of  the  Arabs, 
was  permitted  to  fall  into  ruins,  and  travellers  now  dispute 
where  it  was.  Before  the  year  752,  and  within  twenty  years 
after  the  decease  of  the  prophet,  his  pious  followers  had  sub- 
jected and  converted  the  people  of  the  vast  territory  between 
the  Tigris  and  the  Caspian  Sea.  They  had  done  the  like 
favor  to  all  whom  they  had  not  slain,  from  the  Tigris,  north- 
eastwardly beyond  the  Caspian,  to  the  river  now  called  Sihon, 
by  the  Greeks  of  Alexander  the  Saparlis,  which  is  more  than 
twelve  hundred  miles  from  Bagdad.  South-eastwardly,  they 
had  carried  the  name  and  the  religion  of  the  prophet  fifteen 
hundred  miles,  to  the  confines  of  India.  These  conquests  are 
spread  over  many  pages  by  historians,  who  narrate  the  thou- 
sands of  mournful  scenes  which  accompanied  them.  It  was 
a  rule  with  Mahometans,  in  every  case,  first  to  enrich  them- 
selves with  whatsoever  they  desired,  and  then  to  put  all  to  the 
sword,  and  to  burn  and  demolish  whenever  they  were  resisted. 

While  these  conquests  were  going  on  in  the  east,  other 
Arabian  forces  were  engaged  in  like  terrible  operations  in 
Palestine  and  Syria,  then  part  of  the  dominions  of  the  Roman, 
or,  properly,  the  Greek  emperor,  Heraclius.  Caled,  the  Sword 
of  God,  had  been  transferred,  at  an  early  period  of  the  Persian 
war,  to  command  in  the  conquest  of  these  countries.  The 
whole  history  of  the  world  does  not  exhibit  a  more  daring, 


540  ARABIAN    CONQUESTS. 

brave,  skilful,  and  victorious  chief  than  Caled.  His  own  na- 
ture, and  his  entire  devotion  to  the  prophet,  had  so  nerved  his 
arm,  and  steeled  his  heart,  that  no  enterprise  was  too  difficult 
for  him,  if  there  was  even  a  hope  of  extending  the  knowledge 
of  the  koran,  or  of  exterminating  an  unbeliever. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  the  whole  extent  of  the  eastern  end 
of  the  Mediterranean  is  about  400  miles  from  north  to  the 
south.  The  Jews  never  possessed  more  than  100  miles  of  the 
coast,  from  the  river  Egypt ;  which  is  at  the  south-east  corner 
of  this  sea,  up  to  the  south  end  of  the  small  territory  which 
was  anciently  called  Phoenicia,  in  which  were  the  cities  of 
Tyre  and  Sidon.  Phoenicia  was  about  60  miles  long,  and,  per- 
haps, 25  miles  wide,  bounding  on  the  sea.  Palestine  ex- 
tended up  northwardly  behind  or  east  of  the  Phoenician  terri- 
tory, about  as  far  up  as  that  did.  The  breadth  of  Palestine  no 
where  exceeded  90  miles.  North  of  Palestine  and  Phoenicia, 
quite  up  to  the  Black  Sea  was  Syria,  a  length  of  550  miles. 
All  the  territory  east  of  Palestine,  and  between  it  and  the  desert 
of  Arabia,  which  runs  up  further  north  than  Palestine  does, 
was  either  part  of  Syria,  or  part  of  Arabia,  the  latter  being  the 
most  southwardly.  In  the  year  632,  there  were  many  popu- 
lous and  wealthy  cities  in  Syria,  and  some  of  them  had  been 
strongly  fortified  by  the  Romans.  Among  these  cities  is 
Damascus,  and  north-eastwardly  of  that  was  Palmyra,  cel- 
ebrated as  the  seat  of  empire  of  the  renowned  and  unfortu- 
nate Zenobia,  whose  prime  minister  was  the  learned  Longi- 
nus,  author  of  a  treatise  on  the  sublime,  now  well  known. 
He  was  a  native  of  Syria,  and  fell  with  his  noble  queen  into 
the  power  of  the  Romans,  who  put  him  to  death,  in  the  year 
275.  The  river  Orontes  rises  in  the  mountains  near  to  Da- 
mascus, and  takes  a  course  nearly  north-westwardly,  through 
vallies  once  populous,  cultivated,  and  beautiful,  towards  the 
north-east  corner  of  the  Mediterranean,  and,  passing  by  Anti- 
och,  16  miles  from  the  sea,  it  empties  into  that  sea  about  40 
miles  from  its  north-east  corner.  In  these  vallies  there  were 
rich  cities,  and  among  them  Emessa,  the  birth  place  of  Lon- 
ginus. 

The  whole  of  that  region  of  Palestine  and  Syria  was  made 
to  feel  the  military  strength,  and  unsparing  fanaticism  of  the 
disciples  of  Mahomet.  The  invasion  began  in  the  same  year 
that  the  prophet  died,  632,  while  Abubeker  was  Caliph.  Hap- 
py would  it  have  been,  compared  with  the  experience  of  the 
eastern  world,  if  the  commands  of  Abubeker,  to  his  generals, 
had  been  observed  by  them,  and  their  successors  :  M  Remem- 


ARABIAN    CONQUESTS.  541 

ber,"  said  he,  "  that  you  are  always  in  the  presence  of  God,  on 
tit. .  verge  of  death,  in  the  assurance  of  judgment,  and  in  the 
hope  of  paradise.  Avoid  injustice  and  oppression ;  consult 
your  brethren,  and  study  to  preserve  the  love  and  confidence  of 
your  troops.  When  you  fight  the  battles  of  the  Lord,  acquit 
yourselves  si  ike  men,  without  turning  your  (backs;  but  let  not 
your  victory  be  stained  with  the  blood  of  women  and  children. 
Destroy  no  palm-trees,  nor  burn  any  cornfields.  Cut  down  no 
fruit  trees,  nor  do  any  mischief  to  cattle,  only  such  as  you  kill 
to  eat.  When  you  make  any  covenant,  stand  to  it,  and  be  as 
good  as  your  word.  As  you  go  on,  you  will  find  some  relig- 
ious persons,  who  live  in  monasteries,  and  who  propose  to 
themselves  to  serve  God  in  that  way:  let  them  alone,  and  neither 
kill  them,  nor  destroy  their  monasteries.  You  will  find  anoth- 
er sort  of  people,  that  belong  to  the  synagogue  of  Satan,  who 
have  shaven  crowns;  be  sure  you  cleave  their  skulls,  and  give 
them  no  quarter,  till  they  either  turn  Mahommedans,  or  pay 
tribute."  By  those  of  the  shaven  crown,  the  pious  caliph  in- 
tended, the  monks  of  the  catholic  church. 

The  first  object  of  attack  was  Bosra,  a  city  of  Syria,  east  of 
the  mountains  of  Gilead.  This  was  the  ancient  city  of  Bezer, 
one  of  the  six  cities  of  refuge,  which  Moses  was  commanded  to 
appoint.  It  is  mentioned  as  having  been  appointed  in  the  book 
of  Joshua,  ch.  xx.  ver.  8.  This  conquest  was  easily  made, 
partly  by  the  military  fervor  of  the  Moslems,  and  partly  by  the 
treachery  of  the  Roman  governor.  Damascus  is  four  days' 
journey,  about  80  miles  north  of  Bosra.  The  forces  of  Caled 
were  insufficient  to  subdue  Damascus.  He,  therefore,  concen- 
trated around  that  city  all  the  warriors  of  the  prophet  who  had 
engaged  in  different  expeditions,  and  the  whole  number  which 
assembled  was  45,000.  In  the  mean  time,  Heraclius,  the  em- 
peror, had  assembled  a  force  of  70,000,  near  Emessa,  on  the 
Orontes,  100  miles  north  of  Damascus.  On  modern  maps 
Emessa  is  called  Hems. 

The  Arabs  suspended  the  siege  of  Damascus  to  encounter 
this  army,  which  they  entirely  defeated  in  a  plain  near  Emessa. 
If  one  should  recite  the  exploits  of  the  Arabs,  (acting  under 
the  belief  of  fatalism,  or  predestination,  devotion  to  their  faith, 
and  the  certainty  of  paradise,)  in  this,  or  any  of  their  thousand 
battles,  it  would  require  extensive  details,  for  which  we  have 
no  space.  These  exploits  always  equalled,  if  they  did  not  sur- 
pass, the  best  efforts  of  Greeks  and  Romans,  under  the  stimu- 
lus of  what  they  called  patriotism ;  or  those  of  the  French  ar- 

46 


542  JERUSALEM    TAKEN. 

mies,  when  in  their  revolution  they  carried  liberty  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet,  through  Europe. 

The  Arabs  returned  to  the  siege  of  Damascus.  At  the 
end  of  70  days,  that  beautiful  city  was  submitted  to  the  pillage 
of  these  fanatical  barbarians.  A  portion  of  its  men,  women, 
and  children,  were  permitted  to  depart  down  the  Orontes,  to- 
wards Antioch,  in  the  hope  of  finding  their  way  through  Asia 
Minor  to  Constantinople.  The  causes  of  the  pursuit,  by  the 
Arabs,  of  this  party,  and  their  total  destruction,  are  narrated  by 
Gibbon,  in  his  chapter  LI.,  with  as  much  feeling  as  that  cele- 
brated historian  has  displayed  any  where  throughout  his  mel- 
ancholy details. 

After  several  intermediate  conflicts,  the  Arabs  appeared  be- 
fore Jerusalem,  in  637.  At  this  time,  Omar  had  succeeded  to 
the  caliphate.  Caled,  who  had  been  highest  in  command,  had 
given  place  to  Abu  Obeidah,  in  whose  name  Jerusalem  was 
called  on  to  surrender.  His  short  epistle  is  worth  transcribing. 
"  Health  and  happiness  to  every  one  that  follows  in  the  right 
way.  We  require  of  you  to  testify  that  there  is  but  one  God, 
and  that  Mahomet  is  his  apostle.  If  you  refuse  this,  consent 
to  pay  tribute,  and  be  under  us  forthwith.  Otherwise  I  shall 
bring  men  against  you,  who  love  death,  better  than  you  do  the 
drinking  of  wine,  or  the  eating  of  hog's  flesh.  Nor  will  I 
ever  stir  from  you,  if  it  please  God,  until  I  have  destroyed 
those  who  fight  for  you,  nor  until  I  have  made  slaves  of  your 
children."  After  a  siege  of  four  months,  during  which  there 
were  sanguinary  conflicts,  almost  daily,  between  the  Arabs  and 
the  besieged,  Jerusalem  offered  to  capitulate.  One  condition 
was,  that  the  contract  should  be  signed  by  Omar  in  person. 
He  was  sent  for  and  came,  but  not  as  the  sovereign  of  Persia, 
and  of  Syria,  might  have  been  expected  to  come.  He  was 
mounted  on  a  red  camel,  which  carried  himself  a  bag  of  corn, 
a  bag  of  dates,  a  leather  bag  of  water,  and  a  wooden  dish. 

Omar  remained  only  ten  days  at  Jerusalem,  and  then  re- 
turned to  Medina,  but  he  employed  his  time  usefully.  He  re- 
formed the  errors  of  his  Arabs  in  the  quantity  of  wives  which 
each  had  taken  to  himself;  he  forbade  extortion  and  cruelty; 
he  repressed  luxury,  by  taking  away  the  rich  garments  with 
which  the  conquerors  had  clothed  themselves,  and  punish- 
ed some  of  them  by  causing  them  to  be  dragged  with  their 
faces  in  the  dirt.  By  his  command,  the  ground  floor  of  the 
temple  of  Solomon  was  prepared  for  a  mosque.  He  regulated 
the  future  government  of  his  Syrian  conquests,  and  departed  in 
the  same  humble  manner  in  which  he  came. 


CONQUESTS    IN    SYRIA. EAST. EGYPT.  543 

The  forces  of  the  Arabs  were  then  divided  into  two  unequal 
parts;  the  inferior  one  remained  in  Palestine,  under  Amrou ; 
the  superior  one  departed,  under  Caled  and  Obeidah,  to  take 
Aleppo  and  Antioch.  Aleppo  is  still  known  by  the  same  name  ; 
it  was  called  Beriaby  the  Greeks.  This  city  is  in  lat.  36,  long. 
37,  and  70  miles  east  from  the  Mediterranean,  the  capital  of 
Syria,  and  now  the  third  town  in  the  Ottoman  empire.  It  has 
now  a  mixed  population,  computed  at  200,000,  but  was  a  much 
more  considerable  city  when  attacked  by  the  Arabs.  Before 
the  1st  of  September,  638,  both  Aleppo  and  Antioch  had  been 
subdued,  but  the  latter  ransomed  itself  at  the  cost  of  a  great 
sum  of  money.  Heraclius,  the  emperor,  had  come  into  Syria, 
but  he  chose  not  to  encounter  the  Arabs  in  person.  He  had 
seen  the  destruction  of  the  last  of  his  armies,  and  after  the  fall 
of  Antioch  he  hastily  withdrew  to  Constantinople.  But  the 
Arabians  had  so  far  diminished  their  numbers,  by  battle,  dis- 
ease, and  hardships,  that  they  contented  themselves  with  their 
conquests  thus  far,  in  Syria.  They  had  now  extended  their 
empire  from  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  to  the 
Jaxartes,  or  Sihon,  and  to  the  Indus.  In  the  ten  years  of  Omar's 
reign,  and  within  thirteen  years  of  the  prophet's  death,  36,000 
cities  or  castles,  had  been  taken  or  reduced  to  submission  ;  4000 
churches,  or  temples  of  unbelievers,  had  been  destroyed,  and 
1400  mosques  had  been  established,  for  worship  according  to 
the  religion  of  Mahomet.  Omar  perished  by  poison,  adminis- 
tered by  a  revengeful  Jewish  slave,  not,  improbably,  in  honor 
of  fallen  Jerusalem.  This  Caliph  is  the  first  who  assumed  the 
title  of  Emir  el  Moumenin,  or  prince  of  the  faithful.  His  suc- 
cessor was  Othman,  who  fell  by  assassins  of  his  own  country 
and  faith,  with  the  Koran  on  his  knees.  This  event  occurred 
in  655. 


CHAPTER  LXX. 

Conquest  of  Egypt — Alexandrian  Library-*  Conquests  in  Barbary — Mix- 
ture of  Arabs  and  Moors. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  Egypt  is  comprised  of  the  flat 
land  called  the  Delta,  so  named  from  its  resemblance  in  form 
to  the  Greek  letter  D,  which  is  in  the  shape  of  a  triangle ;  sec- 


544  EGYPT. 

ondly,  of  a  valley  of  an  average  width  of  8  or  12  miles,  be- 
tween two  ranges  of  mountains,  extending  southwardly,  at  least 
600  miles  from  the  south  point  of  the  Delta;  thirdly,  of  these 
two  ranges  of  mountains,  and  of  the  country  beyond  them. 
On  the  west  side  of  the  westwardly  range,  the  country  is  a 
sandy  desert.  On  the  east  side  of  the  eastwardly  range  is  a 
country  extending  to  the  Red  Sea,  mountainous,  rocky,  and  lit- 
tle known  in  history.  The  river  Nile  runs  through  this  val- 
ley, from  south  to  north,  emptying  into  the  Mediterranean. 
The  whole  of  the  Delta  has  been  formed  by  the  deposit  of 
matter  floated  down  by  the  Nile,  if  the  traveller  and  historian, 
Heroditus,  should  be  credited.  He  says  that  when  he  was  in 
Egypt,  (about  450  B.  C.,)it  was  apparent  to  him  that  the  Med- 
iterranean flowed,  at  some  former  time,  at  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tains, now  nearly  80  miles  south  of  its  southern  shore.  When 
the  Nile  comes  to  the  southern  point  of  the  Delta,  it  divides 
into  branches,  the  most  westwardly  one  of  which  runs  to  Alex- 
andria, in  about  80  miles.  .  The  eastwardly  branch  runs  to  an- 
cient Pelusium,  about  the  same  distance,  both  on  the  sea  shore. 
The  points  at  which  these  two  branches  respectively  reach  the 
sea,  are  distant  about  70  miles  from  each  other.  A  short  dis- 
tance (perhaps  20  or  30  miles)  south  of  the  place  where  the 
Nile  divides,  was  Memphis,  in  which  Pharaoh  and  Joseph 
dwelt.  Its  exact  position  is  unknown,  as  travellers  and  anti- 
quaries differ  in  opinion.  It  was,  probably,  near  to  the  present 
capital  of  Egypt,  Grand  Cairo.  (A  more  particular  description 
of  Egypt  will  be  found  in  the  preceding  volume.)  In  the  year 
638  Egypt  was  a  province  of  the  Greek  emperor,  Heraclius. 
It  had  stood  in  the  relation  of  a  province  to  Rome,  or  Constan- 
tinople, ever  since  Octavius  (afterwards  Augustus)  had  over- 
thrown the  last  of  the  Egyptian  race  of  Ptolemy,  in  the  per- 
son of  Cleopatra,  thirty  years  before  our  era.  In  638  it  was 
inhabited  by  the  remnant  of  Egyptians,  under  the  general 
name  of  Copts,  by  a  great  number  of  Jews,  who  had  been  driv- 
en, at  various  times,  from  Judea;  and  by  the  Greeks,  who 
were  divided,  among  themselves,  into  several  Christian  sects, 
and  who  were  intolerant  opponents  of  each  other.  But  Egypt 
was  still  a  rich  country,  possessing  an  important  commerce. 
Alexandria  was  still  a  splendid  city,  and  then  the  most  commer- 
cial city  of  the  world.  The  valley  of  the  Nile,  and  the  Delta 
preserved  their  ancient  fame  for  fertility,  and  were  the  principal 
dependence  of  Constantinople,  for  wheat. 

At  this  time,  638,  Omar,  at  Medina,  being  the  second  caliph, 
or  vice-regent  of  the  prophet,  permitted  his  brave  general,  Am* 


EGYPT    C    NQUERED.  545 

rou,  to  attempt  the  conquest  of  Egypt.     Between  this  time  and 
64Q.-Atnrou  had  been  entirely  succesful  in  this  enterprise.     He 
Was  aided  by  the  Copts,  who  were  disgusted  with  their  Christ- 
ian masters,  and  even  these  Greeks  bore  an  unwilling  alle- 
giance to  the  emperor.     Although  we  avoid,  as  much  as  possi- 
ble, all  military  details,  as  these  are  all  much  alike,  and  convey 
little  of  instruction,  yet  the  proceedings  of  the   enthusiastic 
Moslem,  Amrou,  in  the  conquest  of  Alexandria,  require  a  short 
notice.     He  had  first  made  himself  master  of  Memphis,  after  a 
severe  month's  siege,  during  which  he  was  much  distressed  by 
the  annual  overflowing  of  the  Nile,  an  event  of  which  he  was 
ignorant,  and  for  which  he  was  unprepared.     He  then  trans- 
ferred his-  forces  to  the  maritime  city  of  Alexandria.     The 
Greeks,  who  had  been  driven  from  Memphis,  had  concentrated 
near  this  city.     Alexandria  stood  on  land  which  separated  the 
Mediterranean  from  the  lake  Mereotis.     The  distance  of  the 
sea,  from  the  lake,  was  a  mile  and  a  quarter.     The  city  was 
6  or  8  miles   long,  and  of  the  width  of  this  land,  1J  mile. 
The  sea  bathed  the  wall  of  the  city  on  the  north-west,  and  the 
waters  of  the  lake,  on  the  south-east.     The  ends  of  the  city 
were  protected  by  walls  extending  from  the  sea  to  the  lake.     A 
street  of  2000  feet  in  width  extended  from  the  sea  to  the  lake ; 
and  this  street  was  crossed  at  right  angles  by  one  of  equal 
width,  from  one  end  of  the  city  to  the  other.     The  street  across 
the  city  was  decorated  by  magnificent  houses,  temples,  and  pub- 
lic buildings,  and  was  the  most  superb  street  in  the  world. 
Nothing  remains  of  this  city  but  some  of  its  ruins,  which  time 
has  not  been  able  to  destroy.     The  modern  city,  of  the  same 
name,  is  not  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  one.     This  city  was 
planned  and  built  by  Alexander  the  Great,  and  his  remains 
were  deposited  here  in  a  golden  coffin,  in  the  year  323,  before 
the  Christian  era.  Amrou  could  not  approach  the  city  through 
the  walls  which  protected  it  by  the  sea  and  the  lake  ;  and  he 
directed  his  successive  attacks,  therefore,  only  against  the  walls 
at  the  ends  of  the  city.     These  were  returned  by  sallies  of  the 
besieged,  in  which  the  invaders  were  usually  the  victorious  par- 
ty.    In  one  assault,  Amrou  entered  the  city,  and  he  and  a  slave 
were  severed  from  their  associates,  and  taken  prisoners.  When 
conducted  to  the  presence  of  the   governor,  or  prefect  of  the 
city,   his   lofty  [demeanor,  and  resolute  tone,  had  disclosed  his 
dignity,  and  the  battle-axe  was  raised  to  fell  him  to  the  floor, 
when  Amrou's  slave  struck  him  on  the  face,  and  commanded 
him  to  be  silent  in  the  presence  of  his  superiors.     By  this  for- 
tunate turn  the  prefect  was  deceived  as  to  the  rank  of  his  pris- 
46* 


546  ALEXANDRIAN    LIBRARY. 

oner,  and  dismissed  him,  on  the  assurance  that  he  would  en- 
deavor that  a  suitable  embassy  should  be  sent  by  the  Mahome- 
tans to  treat  of  peace.  No  such  embassy  was  sent.  The  siege 
continued,  and  at  the  end  of  fourteen  months  the  prophet's  flag 
was  raised  on  the  walls  of  Alexandria,  Dec.  22,  640.  [Gib- 
bon, chap,  li.] 

Amrou's  report  to  the  caliph  thus  describes  his  conquest. 
"  I  have  taken  the  great  city  of  the  west.  It  is  impossible  for 
me  to  enumerate  the  variety  of  its  riches  and  beauty.  It  con- 
tains 4000  palaces ;  4000  baths ;  400  theatres  and  places  of 
amusement;  12,000  shops,  for  the  sale  of  vegetable  food;  40,- 
000  tributary  Jews."  Although  the  city  was  taken  without 
capitulation,  and  was  at  the  mercy  of  Amrou,  the  pious  chief 
saved  it  from  pillage  and  destruction,  and  appropriated  its  treas- 
ures to  the  use  of  the  caliph,  and  the  propagation  of  the  faith. 
The  loss  of  Alexandria  is  said  to  have  hastened  the  death  of 
the  declining  Heraclius,  who  died  seven  weeks  after  its  capture, 
of  the  dropsy.  In  the  next  four  years  two  attempts  were  made 
by  the  Greeks  to  recover  the  city,  but  Amrou  defeated  them, 
and  Alexandria  and  all  Egypt  was  now  severed,  and  forever, 
from  the  Greek  empire. 

It  has  been  often  repeated  that  the  world  suffered  a  great  and 
irreparable  loss  in  the  destruction  of  the  library,  which  the  suc- 
cession of  kings,  after  the  dismemberment  of  Alexander's  em- 
pire, had  gathered  in  Alexandria.  Some  of  this  race  of  kings, 
who  were  called  the  Ptolemies,  were  distinguished  patrons  of 
learning.  Alexandria  was  the  successor  of  Athens  as  the  seat 
of  science, -and  here  many  philosophers  were  assembled  in  the 
time  of  these  kings.  It  is  related  that  there  were  700,000  vol- 
umes, (in  writing,  printing  being  then  unknown,)  in  this  city,  of 
which  400,000  were  kept  in  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Sarapis, 
and  300,000  in  the  royal  palace.  If  this  vast  number  was 
ever  gathered  at  Alexandria,  a  portion  is  well  known  to  have 
been  burnt  when  Julius  Caesar  was  besieged  there,  60  years 
before  our  era  began.  But,  shortly  after,  Mark  Antony  pre- 
sented the  whole  library  of  the  town  of  Pergamusto  Cleopatra, 
then  queen  of  Egypt.  Pergamus  was  near  the  western  shore 
of  Asia  Minor.  Its  library  consisted  of  200,000  volumes, 
beautifully  written  on  parchment,  which  was  invented  at  this 
place.  Esculapius  practised  medicine  in  this  city.  It  was  the 
birth-place  of  Galen.  About  400  years  afterwards,  the  library 
of  Alexandria  was  again  impaired,  (to  what  extent  is  unknown,) 
when  the  fanatical  Theodosius  the  Great,  (in  381,)  emperor  of 
the  Romans,  ordered  all  heathen  temples  to  be  demolished 


547 

throughout  his  empire.  Still,  it  is  probable  that  the  number 
of  volumes  remaining  in  the  time  of  Amrou,  was  very  great. 
The  library  was  the  only  public  property  which  was  not  ap- 
propriated to  the  caliph's  use,  and  this  was  disregarded  because 
Amrou  thought  it  to  be  worthless.  A  distinguished  philoso- 
pher, named  Philopomus,  asked  of  Amrou  the  gift  of  the 
library,  and  Amrou  was  disposed  to  assent,  but  concluded  to 
consult  the  caliph  Omar,  who  returned  the  often-quoted  an- 
swer : — "  If  these  writings  of  the  Greeks  agree  with  the  book 
of  God,  (the  Koran,)  they  are  useless,  and  need  not  be  pre- 
served ;  if  they  disagree,  they  are  pernicious,  and  ought  to  be 
destroyed." 

It  has  been  transmitted,  as  an  historical  fact,  that  these  lite- 
rary treasures  were  applied  to  heating  the  four  thousand  baths 
of  Alexandria,  and  that  it  required  six  months  to  consume 
them.  Gibbon  appears  to  have  made  a  critical  examination 
of  the  evidence  of  this  alleged  fact,  and  he  discredits  the 
stated  number  of  the  volumes,  and  the  value  of  the  number, 
whatever  it  may  have  been ;  and  thinks  that  the  loss  .does  not 
deserve  the  regret  which  has  been  so  often  expressed.  But 
other  writers  are  of  opinion,  that  there  must  have  been  many 
highly  important  works  there,  which  would  have  elucidated 
many  doubtful  facts  in  history,  philosophy,  the  arts  and  sci- 
ences, though  there  may  have  been  many  on  sectarian  contro- 
versies, which  are  not  to  be  regretted. 

Omar  having  a  desire  to  know  what  sort  of  a  country  it 
was,  which  Amrou  had  added  to  his  empire,  the  latter  sent 
him  a  description  of  it,  as  follows  : — "  Oh  !  commander  of  the 
faithful !  Egypt  is  a  compound  of  black  earth  and  green 
plants,  between  a  pulverised  mountain  and  a  red  sand,  (mean- 
ing the  shore.)  The  distance  from  Syene  (now  commonly 
known  as  the  first  cataract  of  the  Nile,  about  seven  hundred 
miles)  is  a  month's  journey  for  a  horseman.  Along  the  valley 
descends  a  river,  on  which  the  blessing  of  the  Most  High 
reposes,  both  in  the  evening  and  the  morning,  and  which  rises 
and  falls  both  with  the  revolutions  of" the  sun  and  moon. 
When  the  annual  dispensations  of  Providence  unlock  the 
springs  and  fountains  that  nourish  the  earth,  the  Nile  rolls  his 
swelling  and  sounding  waters  through  the  realm  of  Egypt ; 
the  fields  are  overspread  by  the  salutary  flood,  and  the  villages 
communicate  with  each  other  in  their  painted  barks.  The 
retreat  of  the  inundation  deposits  a  fertilizing  mud  for  the 
reception  of  the  various  seeds ;  the  crowds  of  husbandmen 
who  blacken  the  land,  may  be  compared  to  a  swarm  of  indus- 


548  CONQUESTS    IN    AFRICA. 

trious  ants,  and  their  native  indolence  is  quickened  by  the  lash 
of  the  taskmaster,  and  the  flowers  and  fruits  of  a  plentiful 
increase.  Their  hope  is  seldom  deceived ;  but  the  riches 
which  they  extract  from  the  wheat,  the  barley,  and  the  rice, 
the  legumes,  the  fruit-trees,  and  the  cattle,  are  unequally  shared 
between  those  who  labor  and  those  who  possess.  According 
to  the  vicissitudes  of  the  seasons,  the  face  of  the  country  is 
adorned  with  a  silver  wave,  a  verdant  emerald,  and  the  deep 
yellow  of  the  golden  harvest."  If  these  were  truly  the  ex- 
pressions of  the  Arab  Amrou,  he  is  entitled  to  some  consider- 
ation for  poetical  taste  in  his  description.  This  was,  doubt- 
less, in  substance,  a  just  account  of  the  Delta  at  that  time. 
But  the  scene  is  far  different  now,  as  it  is  in  every  country 
which  has  been  destined  to  submit  to  the  despotic  power  and 
paralyzing  religion  of  Mussulmen. 

The  details  of  Mahometan  conquests  from  Egypt,  west- 
wardly,  resisted  by  the  feeble  forces  of  the  empire  of  the 
Greeks,  would  impart  little  instruction.  The  first  attempt 
was  made  in  647,  but  it  was  not  before  709  that  the  whole  of 
the  north-east  coast  of  Africa  had  submitted  to  the  arms  and 
the  religion  of  the  Mahometans.  A  series  of  battles,  disasters, 
and  miseries,  to  both  the  invaders  and  the  invaded,  constitute 
the  materials  of  history  here,  during  these  sixty-two  years. 
The  names  of  many  renowned  warriors  occur ;  but  all  that 
needs  to  be  known  of  any  or  all  of  them,  is,  that  they  were 
the  instruments  by  which  Islamism  was  carried  and  establish- 
ed, to  the  very  shores  of  the  Atlantic.  The  spirit  in  which 
all  this  was  done,  may  be  understood  from  the  declaration  of 
the  general  Akbah.  Spurring  his  horse  into  the  Atlantic, 
and  raising  his  eyes  to  heaven,  he  exclaimed, — "  Great  God  ! 
if  my  course  were  not  stopped  by  this  sea,  I  would  still  go  on 
to  the  unknown  kingdoms  of  the  west,  preaching  the  unity  of 
thy  holy  name,  and  putting  to  the  sword  the  rebellious  nations 
who  worship  any  other  gods  than  thee."  In  their  course 
along  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  these  Arabs  had  passed  over 
Carthage,  which  Virgil  has  immortalized — in  which  the  un- 
fortunate and  gallant  Hannibal  was  born — over  which  Scipio 
triumphed  with  mournful  tears,  and  which  Marius  had  visited 
both  as  a  conqueror  and  a  fugitive.  They  had  passed  over 
Utica  also,  where  the  despairing  Cato  fell  by  his  own  hand, 
and  to  whom  Addison  has  raised  a  monument  in  his  admired 
tragedy,  presented  to  the  world  in  1713. 

The  most  numerous  and  powerful  enemies  whom  the  Arabs 
encountered,  were  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  westwardly 


INVASION    OF    SPAIN.  549 

of  Carthage,  and  extending  through  the  modern  Algerine 
territory.  These  were  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  people 
of  Numidia  and  Mauritania,  who  were  formidable  enemies  of 
the  Roman  republic.  The  most  ancient  people  known  in 
history,  on  the  northern  coast  of  Africa,  from  Egypt  to  the 
Atlantic,  were  called  Berbers,  and,  in  modern  times,  Barbers, 
meaning  Children  of  the  Desert.  Their  language  is  a  matter 
of  curiosity  to  the  learned,  since  it  cannot  be  traced  to  any  of 
the  known  parent  stocks.  The  Berbers  have  acquired  national 
names  from  the  territories  into  which  the  northern  coast  of 
Africa  is  divided,  and  in  these  they  are  intermingled  with 
people  who  have,  from  time  to  time,  appeared  as  conquerors. 
Their  own  name  of  Berbers,  or  Barbers,  has  given  to  the 
coast  the  general  name  of  Barbary.  From  the  same  source 
is  the  name  of  barbarian,  which  was  the  uncourteous  appella- 
tion bestowed  by  Greeks  and  Romans  on  all  nations  but  their 
own. 

When  the  Arabians  had  penetrated  to  Mauritania,  opposite 
the  coast  of  Spain,  their  conflicts  were  of  a  ferocious  charac- 
ter, and,  on  the  part  of  the  Arabians,  so  disastrous,  that  they 
were  compelled  to  retreat  the  whole  distance  of  fourteen  hun- 
dred miles,  to  the  confines  of  Egypt.  But  they  returned,  in 
sufficient  strength,  to  make  themselves  masters  of  the  whole 
coast  and  of-  the  interior  country.  The  native  people  of  Mau- 
ritania acquired  the  name  of  Moors,  from  the  name  of  their 
country.  They  had,  in  manners,  habits,  propensities,  and  in 
complexion,  a  strong  resemblance  to  their  conquerors,  and 
readily  adopted  the  religion  which  was  offered  to  them.  The 
Arabian  name  was  here  lost  in  that  of  Moors.  When  the 
invasion  of  Spain  was  undertaken,  from  Mauritania,  in  711, 
by  the  mingled  forces  of  Arabs  and  Moors,  it  was  considered, 
in  Spain,  as  the  invasion  of  the  Moors,  and  has  been  so  treated 
of  in  history.  It  was,  nevertheless,  a  continuation  of  the  Ma- 
hometan warfare  against  the  world,  for  the  Moors  had  adopted 
the  Koran,  and  had  become  as  zealous  in  propagating  the 
faith  of  Islamism  as  the  Arabs  themselves. 

To  continue  the  sketch  of  the  African  conquests,  without 
intermission,  it  has  been  unavoidable  to  advance  in  time  be- 
yond the  order  of  succession  to  the  caliphate.  We  now  return 
to  the  successor  of  Othman,  who  had  been  slain  by  assassins 
in  655.  This  successor  was  AH,  the  fourth  caliph,  and  the 
husband  of  the  prophet's  daughter,  Fatima. 


550  ARABIAN    EMPIRE. 

CHAPTER  LXXI. 

MAHOMETAN    EMPIRE    IN    THE    EAST HOUSE    OF    OMM1ADES. 

On  the  death  of  Othman,  Ali,  whom  many  considered  the 
rightful  successor  of  the  prophet,  in  the  first  instance,  became 
caliph.  Rebellions  against  his  authority  arose.  One  was 
headed  by  the  prophet's  widow,  Ayesha,  who  was  ever  the 
inveterate  foe  of  Ali.  The  principal  scene  of  action  was  now 
in  Syria,  and  between  Syria  and  the  Euphrates.  A  battle 
was  fought  between  the  rebels  and  Ali,  near  Bassora,  in  which 
battle  Ayesha  was  present,  mounted  on  a  camel,  in  a  sort  of 
cage.  Though  she  was  not  hurt,  seventy  men  were  succes- 
sively killed  in  the  office  of  bridle-holder  to  her  camel.  Her 
party  was  defeated,  and  she  was  sent  to  Mecca  to  weep  at  the 
tomb  of  the  prophet  for  the  residue  of  her  life,  and  nothing 
more  is  known  of  her.  Ali  had  a  much  more  formidable 
adversary  in  Mowiyah,  the  son  of  Abu  Sophian,  already  men- 
tioned as  the  early  enemy  of  the  prophet.  This  person  had 
been  appointed  governor  of  Syria  by  Omar,  and  dwelt  in 
Damascus.  He  raised  a  powerful  force  against  his  sovereign, 
whose  place  of  abode  was  at  Kufa,  a  city  on  a  lake,  fifty  miles 
south  of  the  ruins  of  Babylon,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
north-west  of  Bassora.  After  ninety-six  battles  and  skirmishes, 
which  these  enemies  fought  on  the  plains  of  Babylon,  Ali  was 
conquered,  and  Mowiyah  became  the  fifth  caliph,  and  founder 
of  the  line  of  caliphs  called  the  Ommiades,  from  Omiyah,  the 
name  of  his  grandfather.  His  seat  of  government  was  Da- 
mascus, and  Medina  ceased  to  be  the  royal  city.  Ali  was 
assassinated  in  a  cruel  manner,  and  all  his  supporters,  from 
whom  any  resistance  to  the  new  caliph  could  arise,  were 
exterminated.  Mowiyah's  reign  began  in  the  year  673,  or  in 
the  fifty-fourth  of  the  Hegira. 

At  the  death  of  Ali,  and  the  usurpation  of  Mowiyah,  the 
schism  which  arose  on  the  decease  of  the  prophet,  re-appeared 
with  implacable  bitterness,  and  has  ever  since  continued.  The 
one  party  are  called  Schiites,  and  the  other  Sonnates,  or  Sun- 
nites.  The  former  maintain  that  the  rightful  succession  was 
in  Ali,  the  other,  in  Mowiyah.  The  former  are  the  heretics, 
the  latter  the  orthodox.  The  name  of  the  latter  is  from  sonnay 
which  means  the  oral  traditions  concerning  the  prophet  and 
his  doctrines.     Both  parties  respect  the  sonna,  the  contents  of 


ARABIAN    EMPIRE.  551 

which  enter  materially  into  the  Mahometan  creed.  The  Per- 
sians and  the  Turks  maintain  an  implacable  hatred  under 
these  sectarian  names  ;  but  the  principal  difference  is  the  orig- 
inal one,  the  right  of  the  succession.  The  Mahometans  have 
had,  from  age  to  age,  the  most  bitter  and  bloody  contentions  on 
the  point,  whether  the  Koran  existed  from  all  eternity  or  was 
created  for  Mahomet's  use  by  the  Almighty.  Christians  may- 
think  this  a  most  absurd  controversy.  But,  move  a  little  to 
the  west,  to  Constantinople  and  Rome,  and  see  what  Chris- 
tians themselves  were  doing,  and  with  like  bitterness  and  thirst 
for  blood,  at  the  same  time. 

All  that  remains  to  be  said  of  Mahometans  may  be  com- 
pressed in  three  divisions : — First,  events  in  the  time  of  the 
Ommiades,  from  the  year  673  to  the  year  750.  Secondly,  the 
events  which  occurred  while  the  princes,  called  the  Abassides, 
were  caliphs,  before  the  foreign  influence  of  the  Turks  inter- 
posed, and  commenced  the  train  of  evils  which  closed  by  the 
subjection  of  the  Arabian  power  to  that  of  the  Turks.  This 
second  period  was  from  the  year  750  to  936.  Thirdly,  the 
events  while  the  Turks  were  absolute  rulers  in  the  Mahometan 
empire,  though  the  caliphs  still  existed  in  name,  but  only  as 
spiritual  representatives  of  the  prophet.  In  this  condition, 
they  were  sometimes  called  Mahometan  popes.  This  third 
division  is  comprised  in  the  space  between  the  years  936  and 
1050.  After  this  time,  the  Arabian  power  is  entirely  lost  in 
the  power  of  the  Turks,  though  the  Mahometan  religion  still 
continued  in  full  vigor. 

It  will  be  useful  to  consider  what  the  natural  elements  of 
history  would  be  among  such  a  people  as  the  Mahometans,  in 
the  periods  now  to  be  considered. 

In  the  time  of  the  first  of  these  divisions,  they  were  illiterate 
and  barbarous,  having  no  books  but  the  Koran  and  the  volume 
of  traditions.  They  were  superstitiously  devoted  to  their  re- 
ligion, and  held  all  the  world  to  be  enemies  who  were  not  of 
their  faith.  Every  Mahometan  was  allowed  to  have  more 
wives  than  one,  and  the  affluent  were  allowed  to  have  as  many 
as  they  could  maintain.  They  were,  however,  excessively 
jealous  as  to  their  rights  in  female  property,  and  women  were, 
therefore,  kept  in  seclusion.  The  numbers  which  made  up 
society  were  distinguished  into  the  great  officers  and  depend- 
ants on  the  reigning  prince — into  subjects  who  were  in  vari- 
ous conditions  as  to  wealth — into  mechanics,  cultivators  of  the 
earth,  freedmen,  slaves,  and  soldiers.  There  was  excessive 
indulgence  in  sensual  pleasures,  among  all  classes,  so  far  as 


552  ARABIAN    EMPIRE. 

they  had  the  means.  The  form  of  the  government  was  the 
most  absolute  of  despotisms,  the  whole  power  being  vested  in 
the  caliph,  and  he  having  no  rule  but  the  Koran  ;  yet,  as  he 
was  not  only  the  temporal  prince,  but  the  spiritual  representa- 
tive of  the  prophet,  he  could  construe  the  Koran  to  suit  his 
own  purposes.  The  administration  of  justice  was  confided  to 
subordinate  officers,  whose  maladministration  of  their  powers 
rarely  reached  the  caliph's  ear;  and  when  it  did,  complaints 
were  regarded  as  calumnious,  or  wholly  disregarded.  Plun- 
der and  commerce  had  created  abundant  riches;  but  these 
were  only  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  while  the  majority  were  poor, 
subservient,  and  depraved.  Such  was  the  picture  which  his- 
torians draw  of  Mahometan  society.  There  cannot  be  a  more 
odious  one,  unless  it  be  that  which  might  be  drawn  of  Con- 
stantinople, in  the  same  age. 

This  despotism  extended  over  vast  territories.  These  were 
divided  into  provincial  governments,  like  those  which  existed 
among  Romans  and  Persians.  The  governors  in  provinces 
were  the  lieutenants,  or  representatives  of  the  caliphs.  Ap- 
pointments to  these  high  offices  were  rewards  for  military 
services,  or  were  dictated  by  interest,  favoritism,  or  family 
partialities.  These  lieutenants,  remote  from  the  eye  of  the 
caliphs,  often  exercised  their  power  to  oppress  their  subjects, 
gratify  their  caprice,  or  to  enrich  themselves.  Whenever 
these  provincial  chiefs  thought  themselves  sufficiently  power- 
ful to  resist  their  sovereign,  and  to  establish  an  empire  for 
themselves,  revolt  and  rebellion  ensued.  Hence  it  will  be 
found,  that  no  small  portion  of  Mahometan  history  is  devoted 
to  details,  showing  that  a  rebellious  lieutenant  attempted  to 
dethrone  the  prince,  and  was  successful,  or  that  the  prince  had 
the  pleasure  of  adorning  his  palace  gate  with  the  rebel's  head. 

In  such  governments,  the  succession  to  the  throne,  on  the 
decease  of  a  reigning  prince,  usually  leads  to  bloody  conten- 
tions. If  the  last  ruler  named  a  successor,  in  the  expectation 
of  his  own  decease,  his  nomination  was  liable  to  be  disputed. 
A  disappointed  son,  brother,  nephew,  or  military  chief,  could 
easily  raise  a  force  to  contest  the  succession.  The  prevailing 
party  must,  therefore,  commence  his  reign  with  such  punish- 
ments as  would  disable  his  adversaries,  and  secure  the  crown 
on  his  own  head.  This  was  done  by  murder  of  some  kind, 
often  the  most  cruel  that  could  be  invented,  or  by  depriving 
the  vanquished  party  of  his  eyes,  his  tongue,  or  his  hands. 

If  the  reigning  prince  had  sons,  and  divided  his  empire 
among  them,  this  was  sowing  the  seeds  of  fraternal  discord, 


ARABIAN    EMPIRE.  553 

and  the  strongest  and  most  fortunate  of  the  number,  would 
despoil  the  others  of  their  inheritance,  and  make  them,  by 
death,  mutilation,  or  imprisonment,  incapable  of  disturbing  his 
tranquillity.  In  the  Asiatic  regions,  the  same  prince  had 
often  sons  by  different  mothers,  and  each  mother  would  natu- 
rally suppose  her  own  son  best  entitled  to  the  sceptre.  Her 
intrigues,  plots,  and  crimes,  to  place  this  emblem  of  authority 
in  her  favorite's  hand,  constitute  materials  in  Mahometan,  as 
well  as  in  all  Asiatic  history.  The  multitude  of  persons  who 
throng  a  despotic  court,  have  deep  interests  in  these  contests 
for  power.  In  proportion  to  their  hopes  and  fears,  their  agency 
becomes  conspicuous,  and  they  display  the  usual  course  of 
cunning,  perfidy,  and  crime,  to  accomplish  their  respective 
purposes. 

Such  governments  are  liable,  also,  to  sudden  invasion  by 
any  potentate  who  is  disposed  to  show  that  he  is  strong  enough 
to  despoil  the  possessor  of  his  power  ;  and  such  disposition  is 
rarely  absent,  when  the  ability  to  gratify  it  is  believed  to  exist. 
These  invasions,  among  Asiatics,  have  always  been  accompa- 
nied by  bloody  battles,  cruel  devastation,  and  by  the  slavery  of 
the  vanquished.  The  number  of  persons  who  fell  in  battle, 
or  who  perished  from  the  miseries  which  follow  in  the  train 
of  war,  and  the  numbe*  of  cities  captured,  pillaged,  and  utterly 
destroyed  in  Asia,  between  the  years  500  and  1500  of  our  era, 
would  seem  incredible,  if  fully  stated.  Such  details  are  proper, 
and,  perhaps,  indispensable,  if  the  object  in  view  were  limited 
to  any  one  country,  instead  of  extending  to  all  countries. 
They  will,  therefore,  be  avoided,  as  far  as  can  be  done  con- 
sistently with  disclosing  the  series  of  events  which  have 
brought  the  world  to  its  present  condition. 

As  the  sceptre  was  sometimes  obtained  by  usurpers  of  su- 
perior talents,  and  as  the  chances  of  succession  sometimes 
placed  that  emblem  of  power  in  the  hand  of  able  and  well- 
disposed  princes,  an  oasis  now  and  then  occurs  in  the  tedious 
desert  of  Mahometan  history.  There  is  a  still  better  relief  in 
a  single  instance.  It  did  so  happen,  that  two  or  three  caliphs 
were  patrons  of  science  and  of  learned  men.  While  the 
whole  of  Italy,  Germany,  and  France,  were  overshadowed  by 
the  barbarism  which  came  on  with  the  fall  of  the  Roman 
empire  of  the  west,  and  while  the  Greek  empire  was  convuls- 
ed with  factions  and  sectarian  controversies,  learning  was  as- 
siduously cultivated  in  the  courts  of  these  caliphs.  It  was 
transferred,  partially,  to  the  south-west  of  Italy,  and  into  Spain. 
They  the  first  dawn  of  the  revival  of  learning  in  the  west,  is 
47 


554  ARABIAN    EMPIRE. 

fairly  attributable  to  Mahometans.  This  is  the  only  good  they 
have  ever  done.  They  soon  sunk,  themselves,  into  ignorance 
and  barbarism,  and  there  must  ever  remain,  while  they  con- 
tinue to  venerate  the  prophet  of  Mecca. 

Succession  of  Caliphs,  Momiyah  reigned  till  676.  The 
empire  was  extended,  in  his  time,  rather  by  able  military 
chiefs,  than  by  his  own  personal  exertions.  At  one  time  his 
victorious  banner  could  be  seen  in  Asia  Minor,  from  the  walls 
of  Constantinople.  The  general  character  of  his  government 
may  be  supposed  from  one  incident.  He  commanded  his 
natural  brother,  Ziyad,  to  clear  the  country  of  Bosra  from 
robbers.  Ziyad  forbade  any  person  to  be  seen  in  the  streets 
after  evening  prayers,  on  pain  of  death.  The  first  night  two 
hundred  were  killed  by  the  patrol ;  the  second,  five  ;  the  third, 
none.  He  then  commanded  every  householder  to  leave  his 
house  open  through  the  night,  and  no  robbery  occurred.  A 
person,  ignorant  of  this  new  order  of  things,  had  driven  a 
flock  of  sheep  into  the  city,  for  sale.  It  was  already  evening 
when  he  arrived.  He  was  taken  before  Ziyad,  and  pleaded 
his  ignorance.  His  plea  was  admitted.  "  But,"  said  Ziyad, 
"  the  safety  of  this  place  depends  on  your  death,"  and  ordered 
his  head  to  be  taken  off  Thus,  despotism  is  seen  to  be  the 
exercise  of  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive  power,  by  one, 
or  the  same  persons. 

At  the  end  of  the  seventh  century  there  had  been  several 
caliphs  after  Mowiyah,  and  several  rebellions,  and  consequent 
crimes  and  sufferings.  Yet  the  limits  of  the  empire  were 
extended,  and  included  Armenia  towards  the  north,  and  a  part 
of  India.  The  contentions  for  power  around  the  throne,  did 
not  affect  the  success  of  military  chiefs  on  the  frontiers.  The 
craving  for  plunder,  and  the  glory  of  propagating  the  holy 
prophet's  religion,  were  sufficient  to  insure  victory  wherever 
Mahometans  appeared.  But,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  that  the 
two  great  empires,  the  Greek  and  the  Persian,  (the  former 
beginning  in  Italy  and  reaching  to  Mesopotamia ;  and  the 
latter  beginning  where  the  former  ends,  and  reaching  to  Tar- 
tary  and  the  Indus,)  were  tottering  into  ruin  ;  while  that  of 
Mahomet  was  now  fresh,  vigorous,  and  qualified,  by  great 
physical  strength  and  pervading  enthusiasm,  to  subdue  any 
adversaries  it  might  encounter. 

The  true  character  of  Mahometan  government  may  be  un- 
derstood from  some  facts  related  by  the  French  historian, 
Anquetel.  In  705,  Walid  was  caliph.  Hejaj  was  governor 
of  Irak,  the  country  around  the  southern  end  and  western  side 


ARABIAN    EMPIRE.  555 

of  the  Caspian  Sea.  Hejaj  told  his  subjects,  that  if  they 
would  have  him  behave  well,  they  must  behave  well  them- 
selves ;  that  is,  they  must  implicitly  obey  all  his  commands. 
"  The  sovereign  and  his  lieutenant,"  said  he,  "  are  like  a 
mirror,  which  reflects  all  objects  placed  before  it.  The  proph- 
et says,  Obey  God,  as  much  as  in  your  power.  He  says,  also, 
Obey  princes  ;  but  this  command  is  absolute,  and  without  reser- 
vation." This  Hajaj,  like  other  tyrants,  was  curious  as  to 
what  was  thought  of  him.  Meeting  with  an  Arab,  to  whom 
Hajaj  was  personally  unknown, — "  Who,"  said  he,  "  is  this 
Hajaj,  of  whom  they  talk  so  much?"  "A  wicked  man," 
replied  the  Arab.  M  Do  you  know  me  ?  "  said  Hajaj.  "  No," 
said  the  Arab.  "  I  am  that  Hajaj,  of  whom  you  speak  so 
rashly."  The  Arab  rejoined, — "  Do  you  know  me?  "  "  No," 
answered  Hajaj.  "Well,  I  belong  to  the  family  of  Zobeir, 
whose  descendants  have  a  fit  of  insanity  three  days  in  the 
year,  and  this  is  one  of  them."  This  ingenious  turn  saved 
the  Arab's  life.  Hajaj  consulted  an  astrologer,  who  had  the 
imprudence  to  foretell  his  death.  "  Since  you  are  so  skilful," 
said  Hajaj,  "  I  may  want  your  services  in  the  other  world, 
and  you  shall  set  off  before  me."  The  astrologer's  head  was 
immediately  stricken  off  Hajaj  is  said  to  have  exterminated 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  people  by  the  sword,  and 
to  have  caused  fifty  thousand  men  and  thirty  thousand  women 
to  perish  in  prison,  exclusive  of  the  numbers  slain  in  war, 
during  the  twenty  years  that  he  governed  Irak.  Yet  this 
man,  probably,  supposed  that  he  was  serving  God  and  the 
prophet,  for  he  died  peaceably  himself,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five. 
Passing  over  several  successors,  in  744  Merwan  is  found 
on  the  throne,  who  was  the  last  of  the  house  of  the  Om- 
miades.  In  his  time  a  powerful  insurrection  arose  against 
his  authority,  in  the  Persian  provinces  of  Irak  and  Khorasan, 
(which  are  east  of  the  Caspian,)  conducted  by  two  brothers, 
Ibrahim  and  Abul  Abbas,  descendants  of  Ali.  Merwan  was 
compelled  to  fly  into  Egypt.  Having  entered  a  convent  in  his 
way,  and  having  become  suddenly  enamored  of  a  nun  whom 
he  found  there,  she  invented  the  means  of  escaping  him.  She 
showed  the  caliph  an  ointment,  which,  she  said,  would  make 
any  part  invulnerable  to  which  it  was  applied ;  and,  having 
applied  it  to  her  own  neck,  she  invited  the  caliph  to  test  the 
truth  by  a  blow  with  his  own  scimetar.  The  caliph  struck 
the  blow,  and  her  head  fell  at  his  feet.  Though  many  similar 
stories  are  gravely  related  by  the  most  accredited  historians, 
one  cannot  help  some  incredulity,  when  it  is  perceived  how 


556  ARABIAN    EMPIRE. 

difficult  it  is  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  what  is  daily  said  and 
done,  almost  within  the  reach  of  one's  own  observation. 

In  this  rebellion,  both  Merwan  and  Ibrahim  fell  by  violence. 
Abul  Abbas  survived,  and  founded  the  illustrious  house  of  the 
Abbassides.  But  Abbas  had  only  obtained  peace,  and  his  own 
security  on  the  throne,  by  the  extermination  of  all  competitors, 
when  he  died  of  the  small-pox,  at  the  age  of  thirty.  One  only 
of  the  house  of  the  Ommiades  escaped  the  sword  of  the  new 
dynasty.  This  prince  was  fortunate  enough  to  save  himself 
by  flight  into  Egypt,  and  along  the  northern  coast  of  Africa. 
He  appeared  in  Spain,  and  was  received  there  as  a  sovereign 
by  a  revolted  province.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  illustrious 
caliphate  of  Cordova,  which  has  been  mentioned,  in  the  notices 
of  Spain.  The  final  destruction  of  the  Ommiades  was  an  act 
of  singular  atrocity.  When  the  whole  family  had  submitted 
to  their  conquerors,  eighty  of  them  were  gathered,  by  invita- 
tion, at  a  conciliatory  banquet,  in  Damascus.  The  -whole 
number  were  massacred  at  table.  "  The  board  was  spread 
over  their  fallen  bodies,  and  the  festivity  of  the  guests  was 
enlivened  by  the  music  of  their  dying  groans."  No  one  who 
had  any  kindred  to  the  proscribed  race,  was  permitted  to  exist 
in  the  empire,  and  no  one  did  exist  but  the  young  prince  who 
saved  himself  by  flying  to  Spain.  Yet,  all  that  is  grateful  in 
Mahometan  history,  to  one  who  desires  the  intellectual  im- 
provement of  the  human  race,  as  the  source  of  its  virtues  and 
social  utility,  is  to  be  found  in  the  reign  of  the  Abbassides, 
This  is  the  second  of  the  divisions,  before  mentioned,  com- 
mencing in  750. 


CHAPTER  LXXII. 

House  of  Abbassides — Splendor  of  the  Caliphate — Decline  and  Fall  of 
Arabian  Power — Origin  of  Ottoman  Empire. 

The  early  death  of  Abbas,  whose  name  gave  the  princely 
distinction  of  his  race,  Abbassides,  raised  to  the  sovereignty 
Al  Mansur,  or  Almansor,  his  brother.  His  proper  name  was 
Abu  Jaafar  ;  his  surname  Al  Mansur,  meaning  the  victorious. 
Before  his  time,  the  imperial  seat  had  been  removed  from  Da- 
mascus to  the  city  of  Aubar,  the  position  of  which  is  uncer- 
tain, but  is  supposed  to  have  been  between  Damascus  and  the 


ARABIAN    EMPIRE.  557 

Euphrates,  and  near  the  latter.  The  early  part  of  this  reign 
was  disturbed  by  formidable  rebellions,  in  which  much  Ma- 
hometan blood  was  shed.  Events,  not  of  importance  enough 
to  be  stated,  induced  Almansor  to  build  the  celebrated  city  of 
Bagdad,  and  to  make  that  the  seat  of  empire.  The  word  Bag, 
in  the  Persian  tongue,  is  said  to  mean  garden.  The  place 
chosen  was  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Tigris,  fifteen  miles  to  the 
north  of  the  ancient  city  of  Ctesiphon,  in  which  was  the  pal- 
ace of  the  Persian  kings.  It  belonged  to  one  named  Dad,  a 
Christian  hermit,  or  was  the  garden  of  Dad.  [See  a  note  of 
Gibbon,  chapter  lii.]  Soon  after  his  removal  to  Bagdad,  (in 
768,)  he  was  cured  of  a  dangerous  disease  by  a  Christian 
physician.  The  grateful  Almansor  sent  the  physician  a  purse 
of  money,  and  three  beautiful  Greek  girls.  The  physician 
returned  the  girls,  informing  the  caliph  that  his  own  religion 
forbade  him  to  have  more  than  one  wife. 

The  caliphs  had  long  forgotten  the  frugality  and  the  sim- 
plicity of  life  practised  by  Mahomet  and  Omar.  They  had 
acquired  immense  riches,  and  lived  in  correspondent  luxury. 
Such  was  the  wealth  and  population  of  Bagdad,  in  Almansor's 
time,  that  "  the  funeral  of  a  popular  saint  was  attended  by 
eight  hundred  thousand  men  and  sixty  thousand  women,  of 
Bagdad  and  the  adjacent  villages."  [Gibbon,  chapter  lii.] 
Notwithstanding  the  numerous  wars  and  the  costly  building 
in  which  Almansor  engaged,  and  his  magnificent  pilgrimages 
to  Mecca,  he  had  amassed,  in  the  twenty  years  of  his  reign, 
and  left  at  his  death,  thirty  millions  sterling  in  gold  and  silver. 
The  character  given  of  this  caliph,  in  the  second  volume  of 
Modern  Universal  History,  pages  100 — 135,  is  a  singular  one. 
He  is  there  represented  to  have  been,  in  private,  mild,  concili- 
atory, inspiring  affection  and  attachment ;  in  public,  inspiring 
terror  by  his  aspect  and  demeanor.  He  was  prudent,  brave, 
engaging  in  discourse,  versed  in  the  science  of  government, 
studious  in  philosophy  and  astronomy,  while  he  was  covetous, 
perfidious,  implacable,  and  cruel.  The  French  historian,  An- 
quetel,  has  collected  some  curious  anecdotes  of  this  person, 
but  they  are  too  many  to  be  transcribed,  if  they  deserve  credit. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-three,  while  on  a  pilgrimage  to 
Mecca,  and  was  there  buried.  He  is  supposed  to  have  given 
the  first  impulse  to  learning.     He  died  in  774. 

Mahadi,  or  Al  Modhi,  the  son,  was  the  next  caliph.  Among 

the  remarkable  incidents  of  this  reign  was  the  rebellion  headed 

by  the  pretended  prophet,  Mokanna,  who  was  one-eyed,  and 

so  hideously  ugly,  that  he  covered  his  face  with  a  veil.     The 

47* 


558  ARABIAN    EMPIRE. 

adventures  of  Mokanna  furnished  to  the  inventive  genius  of 
Thomas  Moore  the  ground-work  of  his  beautiful  and  touching 
poem,  entitled  Lalla  Rookh. 

Mahadi  governed  his  vast  dominions  with  great  ability,  and 
with  much  success,  though  perplexed  with  wars  and  with 
many  sectarian  controversies.  He  lavished  the  treasures 
which  his  father  had  accumulated,  in  various  modes.  Among 
others,  he  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  (one  thousand  miles) 
with  such  a  retinue  as  to  enable  him  to  carry  ice  enough 
(brought  to  Bagdad  from  northern  regions)  to  preserve  to  him, 
through  the  desert,  his  accustomed  luxuries.  His  fruits  and 
his  liquors  were  daily  served  in  the  scorching  sands,  with  the 
same  coolness  and  freshness  enjoyed  in  his  splendid  palace. 
Mahadi's  brilliant  reign  closed  by  a  murder  intended  for 
another,  but  which  fell  on  him.  It  is  worth  relating,  as  it 
shows  the  moral  character  of  the  east.  He  had  a  multitude 
of  wives,  and,  among  them,  a  favorite,  named  Hasfana.  One 
of  the  neglected  and  jealous,  inserted  a  deadly  poison  in  a 
beautiful  pear,  and  presented  it  to  Hasfana.  She,  intending  to 
commend  herself  to  the  caliph,  gave  it  to  him..  He  ate  it, 
and  died. 

Musa,  the  son  of  Mahadi,  reigned  but  two  years,  and  Harun, 
or  Haroun,  his  uncle,  succeeded  him,  in  786.  This  caliph 
was  surnamed  Al  Rashid,  or  Al  Raschid,  the  just.  He  is 
familiarly  known  as  the  hero  of  the  Arabian  Nights'  Enter- 
tainments. These  ingenious  fictions  are  supposed  to  have 
originated  in  India,  and  to  have  passed  into  Persia,  and  thence 
to  Bagdad,  where  they  were  transformed  and  adapted  to  Ara- 
bian taste.  Haroun  has  a  worthier  celebrity,  as  the  patron  of 
learning  and  of  learned  men. 

While  his  brother  Mahadi  ruled,  Haroun  was  the  leader  of 
armies,  repeatedly,  into  Asia  Minor,  against  the  Greeks,  and 
he  compelled  the  proud  Irene  and  her  feeble  son,  Constantine, 
who  then  reigned  in  Constantinople,  to  pay  an  annual  tribute 
in  gold.  Whenever  the  tribute  was  delayed,  Haroun  always 
appeared  in  Asia  Minor  to  enforce  performance.  Nicephorus 
having  ascended  the  Greek  throne,  he  ventured  to  send  a  letter 
of  defiance  to  the  caliph.  "  The  queen,"  said  the  Greek  em- 
peror, in  alluding  to  Irene,  "  considered  you  as  a  rook,  and 
herself  as  a  pawn.  That  pusillanimous  female  consented  to 
pay  a  tribute,  the  double  of  which  she  should  have  exacted 
from  the  barbarians.  Restore,  therefore,  the  fruits  of  your 
injustice,  or  abide  the  determination  of  the  sword."  The  am- 
bassadors, who  brought  the  letter,  cast  a  bundle  of  swords  at 


ARABIAN    EMPIRE.  559 

the  foot  of  the  throne.  Haroun  ordered  these  swords  to  be 
stuck  in  the  ground,  and  with  one  blow  severed  them  all  with- 
out turning  the  edge  of  his  scymetar.  He  returned  for  answer 
to  the  letter :  "  In  the  name  of  the  most  merciful  God !  Ha- 
roun Al  Rashid,  commander  of  the  faithful,  to  Necephorus, 
the  Roman  Dog.  I  have  read  thy  letter,  oh  !  thou  son  of  an 
unbelieving  mother!  thou  shalt  not  hear,  thou  shalt behold  my 
reply."  Immediately,  130,000  paid  soldiers,  accompanied  by 
a  train  of  attendants,  amounting,  in  all,  to  170,000,  appeared  in 
the  provinces  of  Asia  Minor,  under  the  black  standard  of  the 
Abbassides.  The  whole  of  that  territory  was  made  to  feel  the 
terrible  vengeance  of  Haroun.  Necephorus  was  glad  to  re- 
tract his  defiance  and  return  to  his  submission.  This  fact  is 
sufficient  to  show  the  military  power  of  Caliphate,  and  the 
warlike  character  of  Haroun. 

If  Haroun  deserved  the  surname  of  the  just,  his  conduct  to 
the  family  of  the  Bermacides  may  show  what  injustice  and  op- 
pression must  have  been  in  his  time.  This  family  was  the 
most  able  and  affluent  of  his  empire,  and  equally  respected  and 
beloved.  There  were  four  brothers,  one  of  whom  was  Ha- 
roun's  vizier,  and  was  affectionately  regarded  by  him.  Others 
were  in  places  of  high  honor  and  confidence.  Haroun  had  a 
sister  named  Abbas,  whom  Jaafar,  the  vizier,  was  permitted  to 
see.  A  mutual  passion  arose  between  them.  Though  the 
honor  of  a  marriage  with  so  elevated  a  person  as  Abbas,  with 
a  subject,  was  inadmissible,  yet,  Haroun  to  manifest  his  affec- 
tion for  Jaafar,  assented  to  their  union,  but  under  the  injunc- 
tion that  they  should  be  forever  separate,  The  injunction  was 
disobeyed,  and  two  sons  were  born.  Haroun  caused  Jaafar  to 
be  cruelly  put  to  death,  and  ordered  Abbas,  and  her  sons,  to  be 
thrown  into  a  well,  and  the  well  to  be  closed  over  them.  Not 
contented  with  this  act  of  justice,  he  directed  that  the  whole 
family  of  the  Bermacides  should  be  exterminated,  wherever 
they  might  be  found.  But  that  diligent  student  of  authorities, 
Gibbon,  suggests,  that  there  may  have  been  better  motives,  less 
odious  than  those  commonly  assigned,  for  this  barbarous  exer- 
cise of  oriental  despotism.  He  thinks  it  not  improbable  that 
the  Bermacides  may  have  been  conspirators. 

In  another  light,  Haroun  has  rendered  his  name  illustrious. 
Engaged  as  he  was  in  wars — in  pilgrimages  to  Mecca — in  sup- 
pressing domestic  factions,  and  heresies,  he  found  time  for  cul- 
tivating learning,  and  for  the  introduction  of  learned  men  to  his 
court.  He  laid  the  foundation  for  the  superstructure  which 
adorned  the  reign  of  his  son  Al  Mamun,  or  Almamon.     This 


560  ARABIAN    EMPIRE. 

pious  prince  made  eight  pilgrimages  to  Mecca,  and  one  of  them 
on  foot.  When  he  could  not  go  himself,  he  was  represented 
by  three  hundred  deputies.  It  is  related  of  him  that  he  invited 
a  learned  Mahometan  teacher  to  come  to  the  palace  to  instruct 
his  sons.  The  teacher  answered,  that  knowledge  would  not 
wait  upon  any  person,  but  was  itself  to  be  waited  upon.  Ha- 
roun  assented",  and  sent  his  son  to  be  instructed  at  the  common 
seminary.  His  court  abounded  with  physicians,  astrologers, 
philosophers,  and  poets.  He  selected  a  philosopher  to  counsel 
him,  and  take  care  of  his  conscience.  The  rules  which  he 
prescribed  to  this  mentor,  deserve  to  be  mentioned  as  illustra- 
tive of  the"caliph's  character:  "  Never  instruct  me  in  public, 
nor  be  in  haste  to  give  me  advice  in  private.  Wait  till  I  ques- 
tion you ;  answer  in  a  direct  and  precise  manner.  Do  not  at- 
tempt to  prejudice  me  in  favor  of  your  sentiments;  nor  expect 
of  me  to  pay  too  great  a  deference  to  your  capacity.  Use  no 
prolixity  in  the  histories  or  traditions  which  you  relate  to  me. 
If  you  see  me  quitting  the  path  of  rectitude,  gently  lead  me 
back  to  it,  without  any  harsh  expression.  Assist  me  in  the 
orations  I  must  make  in  the  mosque,  or  elsewhere ;  in  fine, 
never  address  me  in  equivocal  terms."  Almost  the  last  words  of 
Haroun  the  Just,  were  to  order  the  death  of  a  subject.  The 
brother  of  a  rebel  was  brought  into  his  presence  when  he  was 
about  to  die.  "  If  I  had  only  strength,"  said  Haroun,  "  to  utter 
two  words,  they  would  be,  kill  him."  He  died  of  desponden- 
cy, occasioned  by  ill-omened  dreams,  at  the  age  of  forty-seven, 
in  the  year  809. 

The  vast  empire  of  Haroun  was  apportioned  to  his  three 
sons,  by  himself.  These  sons  were  of  very  different  character. 
War  arose  among  them.  Al  Mamun,  or  Almamon,  had  the 
eastern  division,  including  Persia.  Amin,  the  central  part,  in- 
cluding Bagdad.  While  Almamon  was  besieging  Bagdad, 
Amin  was  playing  at  chess,  or  fishing  in  the  Tigris,  with  his 
freed  man  Kuthay.  He  submitted  to  his  brother  when  he  found 
that  the  people  of  Bagdad  were  not  willing  to  have  their  city 
taken  and  pillaged  for  his  sake. 

The  reign  of  Almamon  is  the  most  illustrious  of  any  re- 
corded of  the  Mahometans.  Two  things  are  to  be  noticed,  his 
magnificence,  and  his  patronage  of  learning.  At  his  marriage 
"  a  thousand  pearls  of  the  largest  size  were  showered  on  the 
head  of  his  bride ;  and  a  lottery  of  lands  and  houses,  display- 
ed the  capricious  bounty  of  fortune."  In  a  single  gift  he  dis- 
posed of  2,400,000  gold  denars,  a  sum  exceeding  four  millions 
"f  dollars.     During  the  time  of  the  Ommiades,  Musselmen 


OTTOMAN    EMPIRE.  561 

were  limited  to  the  koran,  and  to  interpretations  of  its  meaning, 
and  to  the  poetry  for  which  the  Arabians  were  distinguished, 
even  before  the  time  of  Mahomet.  There  were  contests  for 
honor  in  poetry  as  early  as  the  year  500.  Several  poems  are 
mentioned  in  Arabian  literature,  which  had  attained  to  the  fa- 
vor of  being  hung  up  in  the  Caaba ;  from  which  circumstance 
they  had  their  name,  "  hung  up."  Almamon,  improving  on 
the  impulse  given  by  his  grandfather  Almansor,  which  was 
promoted  by  his  father  Haroun,  ordered  his  ambassadors  to  col- 
lect the  volumes  of  science.  The  works  of  the  Greeks  were 
gathered  at  Bagdad,  from  Constantinople,  Armenia,  Syria,  and 
Egypt.  These  were  translated  into  Arabic,  and  Almamon  ex- 
horted his  subjects  to  the  diligent  study  of  them.  He  attended 
the  assemblies  of  the  learned,  who  were  invited  to  his  court 
from  all  countries.  This  example  was  imitated  in  Egypt,  in 
Spain,  and  in  all  the  provinces.  In  the  first  half  of  the  ninth 
century,  the  natural  enthusiasm  of  the  Arabians  was  devoted 
to  science  and  literature.  A  vizier  founded  a  college  at  Bag- 
dad by  the  gift  of  200,000  purses  of  gold,  equal  to  three  and  a 
half  millions  of  dollars,  and  with  an  annual  revenue  of  26,600 
dollars.  Six  thousand  students  were  instructed,  of  every  de- 
gree, from  the  noble  to  the  mechanic.  Every  city  had  its  col- 
lection of  literary  works.  "  A  private  doctor,"  says  Gibbon, 
"  refused  the  invitation  of  the  sultan  of  Bochara,  because  the 
carriage  of  his  books  would  have  required  400  camels."  In 
Egypt,  the  royal  library  comprised  100,000  volumes,  accessi- 
ble gratuitously,  by  every  student.  That  of  Spain  comprised 
600,000,  besides  others  in  many  cities  in  that  country.  Nu- 
merous authors  arose  in  different  parts  of  the  empire.  The 
age  of  Arabian  learning  declined  until  about  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  when  the  invasion  of  the  Tartars  overspread 
anew,  the  barbarism  which  prevailed  throughout  this  time,  in 
Italy,  France  and  Germany. 

Notwithstanding  the  improved  condition  of  the  Arabians, 
from  intellectual  attainments,  yet  rebellions,  civil  wars,  and  the 
contentions  of  religious  sects  continued ;  but  the  splendor  of 
the  caliphate  also  continued.  The  second  caliph  after  Alma- 
mon, named  Motasem,  acquired  the  historical  name  of  Octona- 
ry.  This  person  is  related  to  have  had  130,000  horses  in  his 
stables.  He  loaded  each  one  with  a  pack  of  earth,  and  thus 
earth  enough  was  carried  50  miles,  to  raise  a  mountain  in  Ara- 
bian Irak,  whereon  a  palace  was  erected  called  Samara.  This 
event  seems  to  be  proper  for  the  Arabian  Nights,  rather  than 
for  history ;  as  do  some  other  facts  stated  of  this  caliph.     He 


562  OTTOMAN    EMPIRE. 

had  eight  sons,  eight  daughters,  reigned  eight  years,  eight 
months,  and  eight  days;  was  born  the  eighth  month  of  the 
year ;  was  the  eighth  caliph  of  the  Abbassides ;  fought  eight 
battles;  possessed  eight  thousand  slaves;  left  eight  millions 
of  gold  coin,  and  died  at  forty-eight  years  of  age.  He  was 
the  first  who  employed  Turkish  soldiers  in  his  armies.  He 
died  in  841.  The  moral  depravity  of  the  Mahometans  was 
now,  and  continued  to  be,  excessive.  Their  annals  are  stained 
with  rebellions,  schisms,  bloody  contentions,  and  every  species 
of  crime  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest,  not  excepting  parricide. 

When  Motawakkel  was  caliph,  in  846,  he  ordered  Honain, 
a  Christian  physician,  to  prepare  a  poison  so  subtle  as  to  make 
death  inevitable,  yet  so  natural  as  to  lead  no  one  to  suspect  the 
cause.  Honain  refused.  "  What  can  inspire  you  with  such 
resolution,"  said  the  caliph,  "when  you  have  death  before  your 
eyes  % "  "  My  religion,  and  my  profession,"  said  Honain. 
"  The  first  teaches  me  to  do  good  to  my  enemies,  and  no  hurt 
to  my  friends.  The  second  has  been  established  for  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  human  race.  When  I  embraced  it,  I  took  a 
solemn  oath,  never  to  be  concerned  in  any  preparation  of  a 
mortal  or  hurtful  nature."  The  caliph  imprisoned  him  for  a 
year,  then  released  him,  and  bestowed  on  him  his  full  confi- 
dence. 

One  would  be  wholly  incredulous  of  the  magnificence  of  the 
caliphate  in  the  reign  of  Moctader,  if  the  cautious  Gibbon  had 
not  given  it  his  confirmation.  This  magnificence  was  display- 
ed on  the  occasion  of  receiving  an  ambassador  from  the  court 
of  Constantinople.  The  army  of  horse  and  foot  were  under 
arms,  amounting  to  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  men.  His 
state  officers  and  favorite  slaves  stood  near  him,  their  belts  glit- 
tering with  gold  and  gems.  Near  these,  4000  white  eunuchs, 
and  3000  black  ones.  The  porters  and  door-keepers  were  700. 
The  Tigris  was  covered  with  gorgeous  boats  and  barges.  In 
the  palace  were  hung  38,000  pieces  of  tapestry;  12,500  of 
which  were  of  silk  embroidered  with  gold.  One  hundred  lions 
were  brought  out.  A  tree  of  gold  and  silver  was  exhibited, 
spreading  into  eighteen  large  branches,  on  which,  and  on  the 
lesser  boughs,  sat  a  variety  of  birds,  made  of  the  same  precious 
metals,  as  well  as  the  leaves  of  the  tree.  The  leaves  waved  in 
the  wind,  and  the  birds  warbled  their  natural  harmony.  fSee 
Gibbon,  chap.  Hi.]  If  all  this  is  to  be  credited,  one  may  be 
rather  astonished  at  the  mechanical  attainments  of  the  Mahom- 
etans, than  at  the  use  which  they  made  of  them,  since  no  mech- 
anism, of  subsequent  days,  bears  any  comparison  with  such  in- 
genuity. 


OTTOMAN    EMPIRE.  563 

But  the  glory  of  Mahometan  power  was  rapidly  approach- 
ing its  close.  This  grand  army  of  Moctader  was  principally 
composed  of  Turks.  They  had  entered  by  thousands  into  the 
service  of  the  caliphs.  They  professed  to  be  Mahometans,  but 
they  were  still  Turks.  They  gradually  acquired  the  absolute 
control.  In  the  year  936,  it  had  become  absolute.  They  ap- 
pointed, deposed,  imprisoned,  and  murdered  caliphs  at  their 
pleasure.  They  could,  and  would  have  assumed  the  sole  au- 
thority, if  their  conversion  to  islamism  had  not  made  it  indis- 
pensable to  continue  a  nominal  caliph,  as  the  spiritual  repre- 
sentative of  the  prophet.  The  dominion  of  these  representa- 
tives was  soon  reduced  to  the  city  of  Bagdad.  Here  they  had 
no  temporal  authority,  but  were  limited  to  the  duties  of  the 
mosque.  While  actually  in  office,  they  were  treated  with 
great  solemnity,  but  whenever  it  suited  the  Turks,  they  were 
thrust  from  their  elevation,  and  substitutes  appointed.  Several, 
who  had  been  caliphs,  became  beggars.  In  1253,  the  Tartars 
poured  in  from  the  east,  and  all  the  temporal  and  spiritual  au- 
thority of  the  caliphs  was  extinguished ;  and  the  name  itself 
gave  place  to  sultan.  But  still,  unhappily  for  the  world,  the 
fame  of  the  prophet,  and  his  desolating  religion,  survived. 

The  origin  of  the  Turkish,  or  Ottoman  Empire,  can  be  only 
briefly  noticed.  To  this  subject,  and  to  the  origin  and  con- 
quests of  the  Mogals,  (or  Monguls,)  Gibbon  has  devoted  his 
chapters  LVIL,  LXIV.,  LXV.  The  Turks  come  first  into 
view  in  the  regions  of  the  Altai  mountains,  north-east  of  the 
Caspian.  After  subjecting  the  Arabians,  they  founded  a  vast 
empire,  under  the  name  of  the  Seljooks,  or  Seljoukians,  so 
called  from  the  name  of  Seljook,  the  first  distinguished  chief 
of  this  people.  Among  his  immediate  successors,  the  names 
of  Togrul  Beg,  of  Alp  Arslan,  and  Malek  Shah,  are  conspic- 
uous. The  Turks  are  of  the  original  Tartar  race.  This  Sel- 
jook empire  extended,  westwardly,  into  Asia  Minor;  and  in- 
cluded Syria,  and  Palestine.  These  are  the  people  with  whom 
the  crusaders  first  contended,  in  the  eleventh  century. 

In  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  the  Mongul  empire 
had  arisen,  on  the  northern  Chinese  frontier,  eastwardly  of  the 
Tartar  or  Turkish  dominions,  under  Ghensis  Khan.  Under 
him  and  his  successors,  the  Turkish  empire  in  the  east,  and  in 
the  west,  was  overthrown.  A  remnant  of  the  Seljooks  had 
found  refuge  in  the  mountains,  at  the  eastern  part  of  Asia  Mi- 
nor. One  of  this  remnant,  named  Osman,  gathered  a  force 
which  increased,  under  able  and  fortunate  leaders,  from  the 
commencement  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  they  founded  the 


564  CENTRAL    ASIA. 

Ottoman  empire,  from  the  name  of  Osman.  This  division  of 
the  orignal  Seljookian  Tartars  or  Turks,  with  an  accession  of 
adventurers,  and  Christian  captives,  established  a  dominion  in 
Asia  Minor,  and  fixed  their  seat  of  empire  at  Bursa,  on  the 
south  side  of  an  arm  of  the  sea  of  Marmora,  which  penetrates 
some  distance  into  Asia  Minor.  Bursa  is  about  75  miles  south 
by  east  from  Constantinople.  From  this  Osman,  descended 
the  race  of  sultans  which  was  in  continual  conflict  with  the 
Greek  emperors  of  Constantinople,  until  Mahommed,  or  Ma- 
homet II.,  in  1453,  terminated  this  conflict  by  the  conquest  of 
that  city.  It  was  characteristic  of  the  Turks  to  preserve  their 
original  barbarism,  and  never  to  adopt  the  improvements,  phys- 
ical, moral,  or  intellectual,  of  those,  whom  they  subdued,  and 
with  whom  they  intermingled.  The  only  recorded  exception 
is,  that  they  received  the  Mahometan  religion  ;  and,  consequent- 
ly, the  koran,  as  their  book  of  civil  and  religious  law. 

The  name  of  The  Sublime  Porte  is,  perhaps,  taken  from 
the  name  of  one  of  the  gates  of  the  Ottoman  palace :  perhaps 
it  is  an  oriental  metaphor,  signifying  the  king's  gate.  [Dear- 
born, Cm.  of  Black  Sea,  ch.  1.  p.  150.] 


CHAPTER  LXXIII. 

CENTRAL    ASIA. 

"  The  Cradle  of  Nations  " — Zoroaster — His  Religion. 

The  great  territory  east  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  called  the  Cra- 
dle of  Nations,  has  been  defined  in  chapter  LXVIII.  It  is  so 
far  beyond  the  range  of  civilized  life,  in  modern  times,  that  it 
hardly  belongs  to  our  globe.  Rollin,  Robertson,  Sir  William 
Jones,  professor  Heeren,  and  many  other  like  eminent  men, 
consider  this  territory  to  be  the  source  of  nations.  Hence, 
from  age  to  age,  have  issued  the  founders  of  the  states  and  em- 
pires which  have  existed,  and  which  still  exist  in  the  world. 
Sir  William  Jones  (5th  anniversary  discourse,  Feb.  1788)  re- 
marks, that  this  space  of  earth  has  been  denominated  "  the 
great  hive  of  northern  swarms  " — "  the  nursery  of  irresistible 
legions  " — "  the  foundary  of  the  human  race  " — "  the  cradle  of 
our  species."     These  comprehensive  terms  may  have  included 


CENTRAL    ASIA.  565 

territories  eastwardly  of  that  which  has  been  described ;  that 
is,  beyond  the  Beloor  mountains,  where  are  now  the  provinces 
of  the  Chinese  empire,  extending  through  the  vast  mongul 
countries  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  They  may  have  included,  also, 
regions  north  of  the  Altai  mountains,  now  Siberia,  part  of  the 
Russian  dominions.  Gibbon  considers  the  Turks  (42d  chap.) 
to  have  begun  their  career  in  the  sixth  century,  from  the  Altai 
mountains,  near  the  sources  of  the  Irtish,  which  are  northward- 
ly of  the  territory  before  described. 

The  five  great  nations,  (according  to  Sir  William  Jones,) 
which  divided  Asia  among  them,  were  the  Indians,  the  Chi- 
nese, the  Tartars,  the  Arabs,  and  the  Persians.  All  of  them 
can  be  traced  to  this  territory.  The  barbarous  nations  who 
overthrew  the  Roman  empire,  and  founded  the  states  and  em- 
pires of  modern  Europe,  came  from  the  same  regions.  Those 
also,  who  destroyed  the  Mahometan  caliphate ;  and,  finally, 
those  who  put  an  end  to  the  Greek  empire,  and  established 
themselves  in  Constantinople,  in  1453. 

From  the  elevation  of  the  mountains,  and  the  depth  of  the 
vallies,  and  the  vast  plains,  which  are  found  on  the  mountain 
ranges,  there  is  every  variety  of  climate,  and  every  variety  of 
country,  from  the  barren  summits,  covered  with  eternal  snows, 
to  the  most  luxuriant  and  enchanting  vallies.  A  portion  of  the 
territory  through  which  the  Ox  us  flows  was  once  the  most  de- 
lightful portion  of  the  earth. 

All  that  is  known  of  this  part  of  Central  Asia,  in  the  earliest 
ages  of  the  world,  is  founded  on  conjectures,  sustained  with  va- 
rious degrees  of  probability.  The  scriptures  afford  no  infor- 
mation on  this  subject.  Herodotus,  when  he  visited  Babylon, 
about  450  years  before  Christ,  collected  such  facts  as  were  ac- 
cessible to  him.  Xenophon,  gives  some  traditions,  which  he 
had  heard  of,  about  50  years  later.  The  accounts  commonly 
relied  on  are  those  which  have  been  transmitted  by  Arrian, 
who  is  supposed  tohave  copied  the  journals  of  Ptolemy,  Aristo- 
bulus,  and  Nearchus.  These  persons  accompanied  Alexander, 
in  his  way  to  India,  who  established  a  Grecian  kingdom  in 
Bactriana,  which  existed  130  years.  It  was  overwhelmed  by 
a  horde  of  Tartars,  which  came  from  the  east,  or  mongul  re- 
gions, about  200  years  before  our  era.  Of  this  kingdom  there 
are  no  records.  From  this  time  till  the  followers  of  Mahomet 
entered  this  country,  in  the  seventh  century,  there  are  no  his- 
torical accounts. 

In  this  cradle  of  nations,  there  was,  in  the  beginning,  accord- 
ing to  Jones,  who  concurs  with  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  in  this,  "  a 
48 


566  CENTRAL    ASIA. 

firm  belief,  that  one  supreme  God  made  the  world  by  his  pow- 
er, and  continually  governed  it  by  his  providence — a  pious 
fear,  love,  and  adoration  of  him — a  due  reverence  for  parents, 
and  aged  persons — a  fraternal  affection  for  the  whole  human 
species,  and  a  compassionate  tenderness  even  for  the  brute  crea- 
tion." There  was,  also,  one  language  in  the  beginning,  from 
which  all  others  were  successively  derived.  The  confusion  of 
languages,  as  stated  in  the  scriptures,  may  be  taken  historical- 
ly, or  as  an  allegory,  after  the  lapse  of  so  many  ages.  The 
Zend  language  of  the  Persians,  the  Sanscrit  of  the  Indians, 
the  Chaldaic,  known  in  Babylon,  the  Hebrew  and  the  Arabic, 
may  have  been  original  languages,  consequent  on  the  confu- 
sion ;  or  they  may  have  been  kindred  languages  in  some  un- 
known time,  derived  from  that  spoken  by  the  family  of  Noah. 
Though  no  reliance  can  be  placed  on  the  similarity  of  words, 
or  of  grammatical  construction  in  different  languages,  to  prove 
a  common  origin,  the  Greek,  the  Latin,  the  Teutonic,  or  Ger- 
man, and  even  the  language  of  the  Icelanders,  have  some 
words,  which  are  said  to  have  affinity  to  the  Sanscrit,  and  the 
Zend.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  there  are  a  thousand  years, 
at  least,  after  the  deluge,  in  which  there  are  no  historical  rec- 
ords ;  probably,  not  even  traditions,  except  among  the  Israelites, 
which  stand  on  different  ground  from  common  history.  What 
changes  among  nations,  and  in  language,  religion,  intelligence, 
and  manners,  may  have  occurred  in  this  long  lapse  of  time, 
can  only  be  conjectured.  We  know  what  has  occurred  on  our 
own  part  of  the  earth,  in  a  space  which  three  lives,  of  no  great 
duration,  would  cover. 

From  the  time  when  Alexander  penetrated  into  this  "  cradle 
of  nations,"  about  330  years  before  our  era,  in  his  way  to  India, 
down  to  the  end  of  the  tenth  century,  there  are  no  events  which 
arrest  our  progress.  It  is  sufficient,  for  the  present  object,  to 
know  that  it  was  a  country  sufficiently  populous  to  put  forth 
the  legions  which  subdued  Europe;  and  that  whatever  learn- 
ing or  refinement  antiquarians  may  ascribe  to  inhabitants  there, 
in  ancient  days,  they  were  barbarous  hordes  when  they  first 
appeared  in  authentic  history. 

As  to  all  that  portion  of  the  globe  which  lies  north  and  east 
of  the  "  cradle  of  nations,"  no  events  are  known  to  have  occur- 
red there,  material  to  the  present  purpose,  before  the  end  of  the 
tenth  century,  except  such  as  are  intermingled  with  Indian  and 
Chinese  history 

Next  east  of  the  Beloor  mountains  is  Bucharia,  and  east- 
wardly  of  this  is  the  grand  sandy  desert  of  Cobi,  1000  miles 


CENTRAL    ASIA.  567 

long  and  600  wide,  which  was  anciently  resorted  to  in  search 
of  gold  and  precious  stones.  Next  east  of  this  is  the  vast  mon- 
gul  country,  inhabited  by  numerous  nations,  now  subject  to  the 
Chinese,  though,  in  ancient  days,  the  natives  of  these  regions 
subjugated  them,  their  wall,  of  1500  miles  in  length,  notwith- 
standing. But  further  remarks  on  this  subject  may  be  reserved 
to  notices  of  China. 

Zoroaster.  There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  among  French, 
German,  and  English  writers,  on  this  remarkable  person  and 
his  religion.  Professor  Heeren,  of  Gottingen,in  his  elaborate 
work  on  the  politics  and  commerce  of  ancient  nations,  assigns 
an  earlier  time  to  Zoroaster  than  any  writer,  and  places  him 
in  unrecorded  ages,  long  before  the  most  ancient  Persian  mon- 
archy. According  to  Heeren,  Zoroaster  was  born  on  the 
western  side  of  the  Caspian  sea,  near  the  river  Araxis  ;#  and 
went  thence  to  Bactra,  in  Bactriana,  on  the  western  branch  of 
the  Oxus  or  Gihon.  Heeren  places  Bactra,  in  his  map,  near 
north  lat.  32,  and  600  miles  east  of  the  south-east  corner  of  the 
Caspian,  and  near  the  modern  city  of  Balk.  This,  Heeren 
considers  to  have  been  the  original  empire  of  the  Medes,  ante- 
rior to  that  of  the  Persians.  The  Zenda- Vesta  (Zoroaster's 
bible)  enumerates  medio-Bactrian  provinces,  which  are  not 
known  as  Persian,  in  later  times.  The  Taurus  range  of 
mountains  (here  called  the  Paropamissus)  separated  Bactriana 
from  modern  Kaboul,  in  which  are  the  sources  of  the  Indus. 
The  Bactrians  may  have  been  the  Medes,  afterwards  known 
on  the  Tigris ;  if  so,  their  empire  was  mingled  in  the  Persian, 
which  arose  next ;  but  the  religion  of  Zoroaster  was  adopted 
by  the  Persians,  and  continued  until  supplanted  by  Mahome- 
tanism. 

If  Zoroaster  was  a  reformer  of  a  corrupted  religion,  it  must 
indeed  have  been  corrupt.  He  founded  his  system  on  two  an? 
tagonist  principles — the  one  good,  the  other  evil,  engaged  in 
unceasing  hostility.  Ormuzd,  the  good,  reigned  in  an  empire  of 
light.  Around  his  throne  were  seven  princes,  (Amschaspans,) 
below  whom  was  a  descending  series  of  genii,  (Izeds.)  Ahri- 
man  the  evil  reigned  in  an  empire  of  darkness,  surrounded 
by  his  princes,  (devs,)  with  a  similar  organization  of  inferiors. 
These  agents,  on  the  one  side  and  the  other,  were  the  authors 
of  all  human  blessings  and  miseries.  At  an  appointed  time, 
Ormuzd  was  to  vanquish  Ahriman.  He  was  then  to  depart, 
with  all  the  virtuous  dead,  and  dwell  with  them  forever,  in  a 

*  The  same  place  where  Heraclius  extinguished  the  sacred  fire,  about 


568  INDIA. 

world  of  his  own.  Ahriman  was  to  depart  to  a  world  of  his  own, 
taking  with  him  all  the  wicked.  This  system  was  obviously 
an  invention  to  subject  the  multitude  to  religious  and  political 
slavery.  It  strongly  resembles  the  Catholic  Roman  Church 
of  the  middle  ages.  Ormuzd  was  to  be  worshipped  with  gifts 
and  sacrifices.  Ahreman  was  to  be  propitiated  in  like  man- 
ner. Whether  it  was  the  one  or  the  other,  the  priesthood 
were  the  receivers.  [Heeren,  vol.  i.  p.  480.  Walker's  edition 
of  Rollin,  vol.  i.  p.  210.] 

This  system  was  political,  as  well  as  religious.  The  zenda- 
vista  seems  to  have  been  addressed  to  the  reigning  monarch. 
He  is  likened  to  Ormuzd ;  and  his  subjects  are  socially  and 
politically  classed,  and  enjoined  to  be  obedient,  on  the  terrible 
penalties  denounced  in  the  sacred  volume.  First,  (as  in 
Egypt,)  the  priesthood  ;  second,  the  warriors  ;  third,  the  agri- 
culturalists ;  fourth,  the  industrious,  (various  arts.)  The  same 
classification  is  found  in  India  to  the  present  day.  When  this 
system  was  afterwards  adopted  by  the  Persians,  it  assumed  a 
more  idolatrous  form.  The  sun,  as  the  source  of  light,  be- 
came an  object  of  adoration.  Thence  arose  the  worship  of 
fire,  and  the  sacred  flame  was  preserved,  by  the  priesthood,  in 
temples,  from  age  to  age.  When  the  Arabs  invaded  Persia, 
some  of  its  inhabitants  escaped  to  India,  and  settled  on  the 
western  coast,  near  Bombay.  There  the  sacred  flame  is  still 
preserved. 

The  Bactrians  voluntarily  moved  to  the  westward,  it  is  sup- 
posed, or  were  impelled  thither  by  tribes  who  came  from  the 
east.  They  were,  probably,  the  Medes  ;  and,  as  before  men- 
tioned, were  mingled  with  the  Persians,  who  came  into  view 
in  Jewish  history. 


CHAPTER   LXXIV. 

INDIA. 

Population — Religion — Ancient  Temples — Singular  Opinions. 

India,  according  to  Sir  William  Jones,  (third  discourse, 
February,  1786,)  comprehended,  on  the  north,  anciently,  Thi- 
bet, the  valley  of  Cashmir,  the  domains  of  the  ancient  Indo- 
Scythians,  and  all  south  of  these  countries  to  the  seas.     In 


INDIA.  569 

modern  geography,  India,  or  Hindostan,  is  bounded  north- 
westwardly by  the  most  northwardly  branch  of  the  Indus,  so 
that  this  great  river,  and  all  its  tributary  streams,  are  in  Hin- 
dostan. It  includes,  also,  on  the  right  bank,  Upper  and  Low- 
er Sinde,  a  long  and  narrow  range  of  country.  Cashmir, 
near  the  sources  of  the  Indus,  is"  now  part  of  Afgahnisthan. 
Malte  Brun  is  of  opinion  that  the  modern  kingdom  of  Afgah- 
nisthan (which  lies  on  the  west  side  of  the  Indus,  and  extends 
eastwardly  across  its  sources,  and  among  the  mountains)  con- 
tains some  of  the  descendants  of  the  lost  tribes  of  the  Jews. 
This  opinion  rests  on  personal  appearance  and  on  national 
habits.  This  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  opinion  of  Rennell, 
(in  his  Geography  of  Herodotus,)  who  thinks  these  ten  tribes 
were  distributed  through  the  extensive  regions  east  of  the  Eu- 
phrates, and  were  gradually  intermingled  with  other  nations. 
Thibet  is  separated,  on  the  north,  from  Cashmir,  by  high 
mountains.  The  same  mountains,  extending  south-eastwardly, 
are  the  Himelehs,  the  highest  on  the  globe,  and  form  the 
north-east  boundary  of  Hindostan,  separating  it  from  Thibet, 
which  was  the  Indo-Scythian  country  mentioned  by  Jones. 
On  the  north-east  side  of  the  Himelehs,  the  Brahmapootra 
rises,  and,  flowing  eastwardly  into  the  Burman  empire,  (which 
separates  Hindostan  from  China,)  it  turns  to  the  west,  and 
then  to  the  south,  and  enters  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  The  Ganges 
and  its  many  tributary  streams  rise  in  the  Himeleh  mountains 
and  near  its  base ;  and,  flowing  first  southwardly,  gather  in  a 
south-eastwardly  course  into  one  of  the  grandest  of  rivers  ;  it 
empties,  by  many  mouths,  like  the  Nile,  into  the  same  bay,  and 
very  near  the  other  river.  The  Indian  Sea  bounds  this  coun- 
try on  the  south-west  and  south-east,  so  that  a  line  drawn  from 
the  mouths  of  the  Indus  to  the  mouths  of  the  Ganges,  nearly 
east  and  west,  would  form,  with  the  two  maritime  shores,  a 
triangle,  usually  called  the  hither,  or  western  peninsula.  This 
line  would  divide  India  nearly  midway  of  its  length.  The 
number  of  square  miles  in  Hindostan  is  one  million  ;  the  num- 
ber in  the  United  States  is  about  two  million,  while  the  popu- 
lation of  the  former  is  about  thirteen  times  greater  than  that 
of  the  latter.  Its  latitude  being  from  eight  to  thirty-four  de- 
grees north,  the  whole  of  it  is  south  of  the  United  States. 

It  would  take  greater  space  than  can  be  devoted,  to  give 
a  description  of  this  country.  It  is  represented  to  be  one  of 
the  most  favored  regions  for  fertility  and  variety  of  produc- 
tions, taken  as  a  whole.  It  has,  however,  its  mountains,  sandy 
deserts,  and  salt  plains.  The  ancient  and  stupendous  ruins  of 
48* 


570  INDIA. 

this  country,  which  have  survived  all  history  and  tradition, 
have  exercised  the  curiosity  of  historians.  These  are  the 
stone  temples  at  the  Isle  of  Elephanta,  five  miles  from  the  city 
of  Bombay,  on  the  west  coast  of  Hindostan,  and  similar  struc- 
tures at  the  Isle  of  Salsette,  within  a  mile  of  Bombay.  The 
structures  at  Elora,  longitude  75°  23'  east,  latitude  19°  38' 
north,  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  north-east  of  Bombay,  are 
still  more  astonishing.  There  are  also  pagodas  of  wonderful 
grandeur,  especially  those  called  the  seven  pagodas.  These 
are  situated  nearly  in  latitude  twelve,  longitude  ninety-seven, 
towards  the  south  end  of  the  peninsula,  and  directly  north 
from  the  north  end  of  the  island  of  Ceylon.  These  there 
will  be  occasion  to  notice,  in  connexion  with  the  religious  insti- 
tutions of  India. 

These  sketches  of  India  will  comprise — The"  Origin  of  its 
Population,  Religion,  Civil  Institutions,  Literature,  Science,  and 
Commerce.  These  general  divisions  will  require  several 
subdivisions. 

Origin  of  Population.  It  may  be  considered  as  settled,  that 
at  some  unknown  time,  within  the  1000  years  that  followed  the 
deluge,  India  was  peopled  from  the  cradle  of  nations  east  of  the 
Caspian  Sea.  An  impenetrable  obscurity  veils  these  1000  years, 
and  thus  forms  an  age  to  which  the  vanity  and  pretensions  of 
different  nations  have  resorted,  to  deduce  their  origin  from  dei- 
ties. It  is  very  doubtful  whether  Europeans  had  any  knowl- 
edge of  India  before  Alexander's  invasion,  in  the  year  328  be- 
fore our  era.  It  is  suggested  that  Darius  Hytaspes  had  con- 
quered a  part  of  this  country  earlier.  Robertson,  in  his  dis- 
quisition on  India,  regards  this  fact  as  resting  on  no  satisfactory 
evidence.  He  remarks  that  Alexander's  object  was  not  less 
conquest,  than  a  design  to  establish  an  immense  empire,  and  to 
connect  its  widely  diversified  domains  by  an  enriching  com- 
merce. In  his  time  India  had  attained  to  a  refinement  and 
wealth,  which  could  only  have  been  acquired  by  a  succession 
of  ages.  This  military  chief  entered  India  from  the  north,  that 
is,  from  Bactria,  within  the  territory  where  all  nations  began. 
He  may  have  taken  the  same  path  which  the  first  inhabitants 
of  India  explored.  He  penetrated  no  further  than  the  Penjab, 
which  is  that  country,  in  which  the  tributary  streams  are  tend- 
ing to  a  confluence,  to  form  the  Indus.  Several  learned  men 
and  journalists  accompanied  him.  Their  works,  except  those 
of  Nearchus,  (who  conducted  the  fleet  down  the  Indus,  through 
the  Erythrean,  or  Indian  Sea,  and  up  the  Gulf  of  Persia,)  are 
lost.     But  they  are  supposed  to  have  existed  when  Strabo  wrote. 


INDIA.  571 

This  celebrated  traveller  and  geographer  was  born  early  in 
the  first  century  of  our  era,  at  Amacia  in  Cappadocia,  (Asia 
Minor.)  He  published  seventeen  books,  which  are  considered 
as  invaluable.  These  journals  are  also  supposed  to  have  exist- 
ed when  Arrian  wrote.  He  lived  in  the  second  century,  and 
was  appointed  Prefect  of  Cappadocia,  by  Adrian.  His  seven 
books  on  the  expedition  of  Alexander  are  among  the  few  of  his 
works  which  remain.  To  show  the  dense  population  and  ad- 
vancement of  India  at  this  time,  Porus,  with  whom  Alexander 
had  a  battle,  reigned  over  a  kingdom,  which  contained  seven 
distinct  nations,  and  comprised  not  less  than  2000  towns.  The 
King  of  Prasij,  further  east  on  the  Ganges,  was  prepared  to 
encounter  the  Greeks  with  an  army  of  20,000  cavalry,  200,000 
infantry,  2000  armed  chariots,  and  a  great  number  of  elephants. 
But  here  Alexander's  army  refused  to  follow  him  further:  he 
retraced  his  steps,  about  200  miles,  to  the  Hydaspes,  which  is 
a  tributary  of  the  Indus,  and  despatched  his  fleet.  He  divided 
his  army  into  two  parts,  one  each  side  of  the  river,  and  accom- 
panied his  fleet  to  the  mouth  of  the  Indus,  and  then  proceeded 
along  the  coast,  and  through  the  south-western  part  of  Persia, 
to  Babylon.  The  Greeks  saw  but  a  small  portion  of  India; 
but  it  is  very  certain  that  the  whole  of  it  was  equally  populous 
and  rich  at  that  time. 

The  state  of  India  before  Alexander's  time,  and  for  anterior 
ages,  is  left  to  conjecture  and  inference.  The  researches  made 
in  India  have  not  yet  brought  to  light  any  historical  works. 
Most  civilized  nations  have  had  eras,  by  which  they  computed 
the  lapse  of  time ;  as,  by  Olympiads,  among  the  Greeks ;  from 
the  time  of  building  the  city  among  the  Romans.  The  Indians 
computed  by  generations  of  royal  families,  than  which  there 
can  not  be  a  more  uncertain  mode.  This  people,  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  the  Chinese,  (who  were  probably  of  the  same  original 
stock,)  so  compute  as  to  ascend  to  thousands  of  years,  which  all 
other  intelligent  nations  reject.  The  investigators  of  this  diffi- 
cult subject  are  of  opinion,  that  they  can  ascend  to  about  1200 
years  before  our  era,  in  which  India  appears  to  have  been  much 
in  the  same  condition,  in  which  it  was,  when  first  known  to 
commercial  nations  in  Europe,  within  the  three  last  centuries. 
These  1200  years  would  carry  us  back  to  the  infancy  of  the 
Greeks,  and  near  to  the  siege  of  Troj^. 

The  religion  of  the  Indians  or  Hindoos,  is  an  important  ele- 
ment in  their  civil  and  social  condition.  It  has  been  before 
remarked  that  the  Zenda-vesta  of  Zoroaster,  divided  society  into 
four  great  classes — the  Priesthood,  the  warriors,  the  cultivators 


572  INDIA. 

of  the  earth,  and  the  industrious,  or  "the  servile."  The  last 
class  includes  many  subdivisions,  not  less,  it  is  said  than  eighty, 
in  India.  Whether  this  distribution  was  imitated  or  original, 
among  the  Hindoos,  is  beyond  the  most  diligent  research.  It 
is  enjoined  by  the  sacred  books,  called  the  Vedas,  (or  Hindoo 
bible,)  and  has  ever  been  adhered  to  with  the  utmost  fidelity. 
The  priests  are  a  sacred  and  a  privileged  order,  even  superior 
to  the  kings,  who  are  always  of  the  warrior  caste.  The  Roman 
Church  does  not  exhibit,  in  any  period  of  its  history,  so  absolute 
a  despotism  over  the  human  mind,  and  over  all  civil  institutions, 
as  has  at  all  times  been  exercised  by  the  Hindostan  priesthood. 

From  the  works  of  Sir  William  Jones,  Robertson's  disquisi- 
tion on  India,  Professor  Heeren's  inquiry  into  the  policy  and 
commerce  of  ancient  people,  and  from  Col.  James  Tod's  work 
on  the  north-western  provinces  of  India,  the  Hindoo  religion 
may  be  made  known.  The  latter  gentleman  was  employed  in 
military  and  civil  capacities,  eighteen  years,  in  Northern  India, 
and  has  published  a  work  which  shows  a  sound  head,  a  good 
heart,  and  the  tact  of  a  scholar. 

The  domination  of  the  priesthood  produced  its  natural  con- 
sequences, and  among  these  the  maintenance  of  one  entire  class 
of  men,  in  idleness  and  luxury,  by  exactions  from  ignorance  and 
superstition.  These  stupendous  temples  were  formed  for  the 
residence  of  Brahmins,  as  well  as  for  worship.  Every  induce- 
ment which  ingenuity  and  fraud  could  suggest,  has  been  in 
continual  operation  to  cause  annual  pilgrimages  to  these  places, 
and  to  accumulate  riches  in  the  form  of  gifts  and  sacrifices. 
Some  of  the  numerous  apartments  were  appropriated  to  uses 
which  would  hardly  appear  credible,  if  it  were  decent  to  disclose 
them.  As  late  as  when  Tod  was  in  India,  a  female  was  known 
to  have  presented  a  bill  of  exchange,  as  a  gift,  of  70,000  rupees, 
equivalent  to  about  40,000  dollars.  The  rajahs  (kings)  are  ac- 
customed to  weigh  themselves  against  gold,  silver  and  precious 
cloths,  all  of  which  are  perquisites  of  the  priests.  Around  the 
pagoda  of  Juggernaut,  which  is  south-west  of  Calcutta,  on  the 
coast,  and  distant  therefrom  about  300  miles,  the  ground  is  white, 
for  miles,  with  the  bones  of  pilgrims.  The  belief  is,  that  if  one 
can  reach  the  holy  ground,  when  death  is  expected  from  disease 
or  old  age,  the  dreadful  liability  to  be  born  again  in  the  shape 
of  a  hog,  or  some  other  animal,  or  in  the  humbler  condition  of 
a  reptile,  may  be  escaped.  It  is  at  this  place,  that  once  in  every 
year  the  figure  of  Vischnou,  or  of  some  other  god,  is  biought 
forth  with  great  solemnities,  and  pompous  ceremonies;  the 
figure  is  then  placed  on  a  column  60  feet  high,  moveable  on 


INDIA.  573 

wheels.  The  assembled  penitents  draw  this  column  by  ropes, 
and  many  of  the  number  cast  themselves  before  the  wheels,  and 
are  happy  to  be  crushed  to  death.  A  merchant  of  Calcutta 
lately  gave  £16,000  to  make  a  better  road  from  Calcutta  to  this 
temple.  Heeren  says,  that  2,500,000  persons  are  annually 
assembled  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  to  bathe  and  wash  away 
their  sins  in  its  sacred  waters.  All  of  them  bear  gifts  to  the 
priesthood.  About  fifteen  years  ago,  John  B.  Seely,  an  English 
gentleman  in  the  military  service,  was  at  Elora.  From  his 
volume,  it  seems  that  this  city  of  temples  is  declining,  in  conse- 
quence of  political  causes,  and  changes  in  population,  in  the 
number  of  pilgrim  visiters.  But  he  found  there  the  accustomed 
tenants,  idle,  lazy,  and  ignorant  Brahmins.  Here,  as  in  all 
other  places  of  worship,  "the  Brahmins  live  in  a  subordination 
which  knows  no  resistance,  and  slumber  in  a  voluptuousness 
which  knows  no  wants." 

It  is  supposed  that  one-fifth  part  of  all  the  rents  of  lands,  and 
of  personal  industry  and  capital,  go,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the 
maintenance  of  religion,  and  the  priesthood.  Whether  this 
proportion  be  more  or  less  than  the  fact,  it  gives  a  solution  to 
the  problem,  by  what  labor  and  by  what  means  were  the  won- 
derful temples  of  India  formed?  The  enthusiasm  of  a  whole 
people,  in  any  cause,  good  or  bad,  can  effect  any  thing.  It  is 
not  surprising  that  the  human  mind  should  be  intensely  engaged 
in  the  phenomena  of  existence,  and  should  exhibit  the  result  of 
its  labors  in  poetical  systems  of  theogony.  All  these,  of  which 
almost  all  nations  had  some,  are  taken  from  the  action  of  nature 
on  man  and  society.  The  Greeks,  the  Egyptians,  the  Celtae, 
are  known  to  have  been  thus  busy,  no  less  than  the  Indians. 
Some  persons  ascribe  to  Hesiod  an  antiquity  equal  to  that  of 
Homer.  His  confused  and  extravagant  theory  of  gods,  is  of 
the  same  stamp  with  the  mythology,  which,  before  his  time,  had 
established  its  empire  in  India.  We  may  thus  account,  by  a 
natural  and  obvious  course  of  action,  for  many  things,  which 
at  first  are  wonderful  to  the  improved  intelligence  of  the  present 
age.  Whence  came  the  Parthenon,  (at  Athens,)  containing  the 
astonishing  statue  of  Minerva  ?  and  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Olym- 
pus at  Elia,  containing  a  statue  of  that  god,  which  all  Grecians 
thought  it  better  not  to  have  lived,  than  to  have  died  without 
beholding?  Horner,  (or  whoever  wrote  the  Iliad,)  gave  the 
impulse,  from  which  these  admirable  exhibitions  of  combined 
art  and  science  arose.  Phidias  did  no  more  than  to  present  to 
the  eyes  of  the  Greeks,  what  Homer  had  presented  to  their 
imagination.     So  the  Ramayan  or  the  Mahabharat,  or  some 


574  INDIA. 

other  work  of  poetical  genius,  and  religious  enthusiasm,  may 
have  described  these  Indian  wonders,  before  they  existed.  If 
this  were  not  so,  the  empire  of  the  priesthood  was  strong  enough 
to  extract  the  gifts,  and  put  the  hands  in  motion,  necessary  to 
have  produced  these  astonishing  results.  The  enthusiasm  in- 
spired by  the  popes,  and  which  poured  the  riches  and  the 
strength  of  Europe  into  Asia  for  two  centuries,  is  much  more 
wonderful  than  any  which  must  have  existed  among  the  Hin- 
doos. The  muscular  action  and  the  treasure  expended  in  the 
crusades,  would  have  constructed  an  hundred  Eloras. 

The  wonders  of  Egypt,  the  Pyramids,  Thebes,  Meroe,  and 
those  of  Persia,  Persepolis  by  what  labor,  and  by  what  means, 
did  they  arise?  There  are  no  poems,  no  records  to  answer. 
It  is  nearly  2,200  years  since  every  thing  traced  by  human 
hands,  except  those  on  monuments  themselves,  have  been  swept 
away.  Some  sort  of  despotism  over  the  human  mind,  rejoicing 
in  its  shackles,  raised  these  proud  proofs  of  its  empire.  It  is 
very  probable  that  commerce  gave  its  helping  hand,  and  paid 
its  rich  tribute  to  religion  and  to  kings,  descended  from  gods. 

It  is  held  to  be  infamous  to  lose  one's  caste.  This  infamy 
can  befall  the  members  of  either  caste.  Infidelity  to  the  estab- 
lished religion,  marriages  which  tend  to  confound  the  castes, 
marrying  with  one  who  is  not  of  the  Indian  religion,  (as  a 
Christian,  or  Mahometan,)  are  among  the  causes.  The  effect 
of  this  loss  is  precisely  that  which  followed  excommunication 
by  the  church  of  Rome,  while  Europe  was  so  ignorant  and 
debased  as  not  to  perceive  its  absurdity.  This  loss  is  not,  in 
modern  times,  irremediable.  Expiations  will  restore.  These 
depend  on  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  Proper  sacrifices  to 
the  insulted  majesty  of  the  gods,  are  included  in  all  expiations, 
which  is  another  name  for  gifts,  to  the  priesthood. 

.Among  the  warrior  caste,  females  are  held  in  high  respect. 
-  are  secluded  from  the  public  gaze  rather  out  of  veneration 
to  them,  than  from  usual  oriental  distrust  and  jealousy,  which 
established  the  Persian,  the  Mahomedan  and  the  Turkish  ha- 
rems. Instances  are  mentioned  by  Tod,  of  distinguished  and 
able  government  by  women,  not  as  queens,  but  as  regents,  dur- 
ing the  minority  of  a  successor.  This  accomplished  and  in- 
teresting writer  describes  an  interview,  more  properly  a  meeting, 
which  he  had  with  a  lady  who  held  this  relation  to  her  son. 
The  occasion  was  one  of  business.  The  conversation  was  con- 
ducted, while  the  parties  were  on  opposite  sides  of  an  impervi- 
ous veil.  He  mentions  Hindoo  females  of  the  warrior  caste, 
with  great  respect;  and  is  eloquent  in  praise  of  their  beauty, 


INDIA.  575 

accomplishments,  and  virtues.  Yet  the  birth  of  a  daughter  is 
regarded  as  a  misfortune,  while  that  of  a  son  is  cause  of  great 
rejoicing.  A  misfortune — because  the  parent  must  marry  the 
daughter  conformably  to  her  rank,  and  with  a  suitable  dowry,  or 
not  at  all.  But  the  birth  of  a  son  is  connected  with  highly  impor- 
tant religious  consequences.  If  a  father  have  not  a  son  to  perform 
the  required  obsequies,  and  make  donations,  his  soul  is  liable  to 
descend  to  puttra,  (the  Indian  purgatory,)  there  to  remain  till 
some  one  of  his  race  is  able  and  willing  to  make  the  gifts  and 
sacrifices  which  will  ensure  its  liberation.  The  fear  of  encoun- 
tering such  an  evil,  has  led  to  the  custom  of  adopting  sons. 
Adoption  admits  of  twelve  different  description  of  sons.  Their 
rights  in  the  succession  to  the  parental  estate,  is  one  of  the 
causes  of  litigation  in  the  Indo-British  courts.  The  disposal 
of  one's  estate  by  will,  is  unknown  in  India. — [Sir  T.  Strange, 
Hindu-Law.] 

The  English  government  in  India  are  said  to  have  abolish- 
ed Satiism  (usually  called  the  Suttee,  or  self-immolation  of 
widows)  in  December,  1829.  It  is  believed  that  this  abolition 
does  not  apply  to  the  whole  of  India,  but  to  those  parts  only 
of  which  the  English  have,  as  yet,  acquired  absolute  domin- 
ion. Tod  says,  that  Menu  has  not  ordered  this  sacrifice, 
though  he  makes  widows  severe  ascetics,  and  dooms  them  to 
single  life.  This  shocking  practice,  in  common  with  all 
others  of  less  revolting  character,  is  taken  from  the  Hindoo 
mythology.  The  poets  are,  no  doubt,  the  authors  of  this  sin- 
gular custom. 

The  precedent  is  found  in  the  example  of  Sati,  "  who,  to 
avenge  an  insult  to  Iswara,  in  her  own  father's  omission  to 
ask  her  lord  to  an  entertainment,  consumed  herself  in  the 
presence  of  the  assembled  gods."  By  this  act,  she  secured 
her  own  regeneration  and  reunion  to  her  husband.  "  Ti  « 
chief  characteristic  of  Satiism  is  its  expiating  quality,  joy 
this  act,  the  widow  makes  atonement  for  the  sins  of  her  hus- 
band, secures  the  remission  of  her  own,  and  has  the  joyful 
assurance  of  reunion  to  the  object  whose  beatitude  she  pro- 
cures." [Tod,  vol.  i.  p.  634.]  While  such  are  the  sentiments 
which  prompt  this  sacrifice,  there  is  little  reason  to  believe 
that  the  humanity  of  any  strangers  to  Indian  religion  can 
effect  its  abolition,  unless  by  force. 

Infanticide  (effected  by  means  of  opium,  soon  after  birth)  is 
very  common  in  India.  This  is  not  a  crime.  The  practice 
does  not  arise  from  poverty,  redundant  population,  nor  from 
the  common  source  of  Indian  errors,  religious  duty  or  super- 
stition.    It  is  to  escape  the  inconvenience  or  burthen  of  having 


576  INDIA. 

to  provide  for  females,  in  marriage,  consistently  with  the  pride 
of  family,  or  caste,  as  before  mentioned. 

The  laws  of  Menu,  obviously  framed  by  the  Brahmin  caste, 
disclose  the  sources  of  that  extraordinary  submission  (in  this 
age  of  the  world)  to  signs,  omens,  auguries,  and  ceremonies, 
which  one  cannot  read  of  without  compassion  and  contempt. 
This  pervades  the  whole  tenor  of  life,  in  all  things,  whether 
serious,  amusing,  or  frivolous.  The  prince  ties  the  little  tute- 
lary deity  of  his  household  to  his  saddle-bow,  when  he  goes 
to  war.  He  eats,  sleeps,  rises,  sacrifices,  works,  amuses  him- 
self, and  even  visits  his  harem,  by  rule.  The  periodical  festi- 
vals, which  are  very  numerous,  have  each  their  appropriate 
emblems  and  ceremonies.  The  Brahmin  must  be  consulted 
on  all  occasions,  by  the  lower  orders,  in  all  things,not  merely 
indifferent,  before  an  act  can  be  done.  The  kindling  of  a  fire 
by  the  friction  of  pieces  of  wood,  and  pouring  clarified  butter 
on  the  flame,  (always  by  Brahmins,)  are  essential  acts  in  all 
serious  ceremonies.  But,  while  one  is  compassionating  the 
subdued  and  ignorant  Hindoos,  he  should  remember  how  it 
was  among  the  wise  Greeks  and  valiant  Romans ;  and  that, 
within  the  present  century,  it  was  essential  to  a  legal  corona- 
tion, in  a  Christian  country,  to  anoint  the  sovereign  with 
holy  oil.  In  the  commercial  character  of  the  Hindoos,  and  in 
their  manufacture  and  arts,  they  appear  in  a  very  different  light. 
In  all  other  respects  their  mythology  had  an  influence,  espec- 
ially in  agriculture,  because  this  was  associated  with  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  seasons,  a  rich  department  for  the  operation  of 
deities.  In  the  sacrifices  and  ceremonies  recurring  with  the 
seasons,  the  Hindoos  are  particularly  mystical  and  devout. 
The  lotus,  a  sort  of  water-plant,  is  an  emblem  in  these  services, 
and  is  rarely  absent  in  any.  Most  nations  had  such  emblems. 
The  CeltaB  of  Europe  had  their  sacred  misletoe,  (a  parasitical 
plant,)  when  found  on  the  oak.  The  Irish  have  their  sham- 
rock, and  France  has  its  lily.  But  in  commerce  the  Brahmins 
seem  to  have' interposed  but  little,  since  their  interest  was  pro- 
moted by  whatever  tended  to  accumulate  wealth.  The  natural 
Hindoo  character  is,  therefore,  more  favorably  developed  by 
their  commerce,  than  in  any  other  light  in  which  they  can  be 
viewed. 


INDIA.  577 

CHAPTER  LXXV. 

INDIA. 

Commerce — Political  Revolutions — Conquests  by  Europeans. 

The  diligent  researches  of  the  English  have  not  brought  to 
light  books  of  history,  geography,  or  science.*  All  that  is 
known,  of  more  ancient  times,  has  been  laboriously  attained 
through  questionable  traditions,  and  through  the  mists  of  poetry 
and  fiction.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  mention  the  important 
changes  in  political  power.  In  the  century  before  the  Chris- 
tian era  began,  there  was  a  celebrated  monarch  called  Vicra- 
maditya,  whose  death  is  fixed  in  the  year  56  B.  C.  His  court 
was  brilliant  in  Oriental  grandeur,  and  renowned  for  the  "nine 
poets,"  among  whom  was  Calidas,  the  supposed  author  of 
Sacontola.  In  710,  the  Mahometans  established  an  empire  in 
North  India,  as  far  as  the  Ganges,  and  maintained  it  for  some 
time  after  the  caliphate  had  become  insignificant.  In  1155, 
the  Persians,  who  had  freed  themselves  from  the  caliphate, 
between  the  Indus  and  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Persia,  sub- 
dued the  Mahometans  in  India.  In  1221,  Gengis  Khan  added 
all  India  to  his  vast  empire,  whence  the  northern  provinces 
acquired,  and  long  held  the  name  of  the  Mogul  empire.  Be- 
tween this  time  and  1739,  there  were  several  other  invasions 
from  "  the  cradle  of  nations ;"  and,  among  others,  one  by  the 
terrible  Timur,  or  Tamerlane.  In  the  last  mentioned  year, 
the  celebrated  Persian,  Nadir  Shah,  conquered  Northern  India, 
but  restored  the  Mogul  emperor  to  his  throne.  That  domin- 
ion long  continued,  but  gradually  diminishing  in  importance, 
so  that  only  Delhi  and  a  small  territory  around  it  remained. 
This  remnant  yielded  to  the  British  in  1803.  These  invasions 
have  caused  some  mixture  of  population,  and  there  may  be 
ten  or  twelve  millions  of  Mahometans.  But  the  Indians  per- 
secute no  one  for  difference  of  religious  opinion  ;  maintaining 

*  If  this  be  otherwise,  it  has  escaped  notice.  No  such  work,  by  any 
Hindoo  hand,  has  been  referred  to.  Ayen  Acbaree,  (or  Ayeen  Akbery,) 
or  Institutes  of  the  emperor  Akbar,  is  not  an  exception.  It  was  written 
by  the  very  able  minister  (Abul  ^Fazil)  of  the  Mogul  emperor,  Akbar, 
in  the  Persian  language,  about  the  year  1600 ;  it  is  referred  to,  as  a  valu- 
able work  on  India,  by  Rennell,  Heeren,  and  many  others.  It  is  said 
that  it  has  been  translated  into  English,  lately,  at  Bengal. 

49 


578  INDIA. 

that  all  may  worship  the  Great  Being  in  whatever  manner 
they  think  right.  The  British  power  in  India  is  about  one 
century  in  duration.  Its  origin  will  be  noticed.  It  is  a  strong 
proof  of  the  devotion  of  the  Indians  to  their  ancient  laws, 
opinions,  ceremonies  and  customs,  that  they  are  wholly  un- 
changed throughout  the  vicissitudes  of  three  thousand  years. 

India  seems,  from  the  earliest  knowledge  of  it,  to  have  been 
tenanted,  like  Greece  and  ancient  Italy,  by  many  distinct  and 
independent  nations,  having  different  customs  and  languages. 
Chief  Justice  Strange  says,  that  the  languages  of  some  of 
them  are  as  dissimilar  as  those  of  Germany  and  Spain.  But 
the  general  national  resemblance  has  been  preserved,  by  one 
and  the  same  religion,  through  all  interior  revolutions  and 
foreign  invasions.  This  resemblance  may  have  justified  the 
use  of  the  word  Hindoo,  or  Hindu,  when  speaking  of  the 
inhabitants  of  India,  though,  properly,  Hindostan  is  a  part  of 
India,  and  lies  south-east  of  the  Indus,  south-west  of  the  Jum- 
na, and  enters  but  little  into  the  peninsula.  Tod's  work  arose 
from  residence  in  this  part  of  India,  which  is  the  most  proper 
region  for  the  study  of  Indian  character. 

From  the  earliest  accounts  of  India,  it  has  been  a  country 
peculiarly  adapted  to  an  enriching  commerce.  It  has  a  pro- 
ductive soil,  great  rivers,  and  many  small  ones,  which  the 
Indians  have  ever  known  how  to  use  advantageously,  in  form- 
ing reservoirs  to  be  resorted  to  for  irrigation.  Agricultural 
products  are  rich  and  abundant.  Among  them  may  be  men- 
tioned all  the  varieties  of  tropical  fruits,  rice,  and  other  grains, 
and  many  vegetables ;  spices,  cotton,  silk,  sugar,  and  indigo. 
There  are  many  articles  used  in  dying,  but  they  are  all  of 
vegetable  growth,  as  the  Indians  do  not  use  minerals  for  this 
purpose.  They  have  iron,  lead,  copper,  silver,  precious  stones, 
ivory ;  and  gold  is  found  in  rivers.  Their  coasts  are  rich  in 
pearls,  especially  near  the  island  of  Ceylon.  But  the  wealth 
of  the  Indians  is  less  in  the  productive  power  of  their  country 
than  in  their  own  skill  and  industry.  Though  navigators 
themselves,  in  their  ancient  and  unchanged  manner,  they  have 
not  sought  foreign  intercourse,  but  have  willingly  exchanged 
their  productions  with  those  who  sought  them.  Hence  it  has 
been,  that  gold  and  silver  has  been  gathering  in  India,  from 
the  earliest  traces  of  commerce. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Phnenicians  had  merchandise 
from  India  at  a  very  early  age.  This  may  have  been  in  three 
modes — by  Caravanseras,  by  the  Gulf  of  Persia,  and  by  the 
Red  Sea.     Tyre  was  destroyed  by  the  Assyrian  Nebuchad- 


INDIA.  579 

nezzar,  573  B.  C.  This,  Josephus  says,  was  seventeen  hun- 
dred years  after  its  foundation.  But  it  appears  to  have  been 
renewed,  as  it  was  taken  by  Alexander,  and,  on  the  partition 
of  his  empire,  fell  into  the  Syrian  division,  and  lost  its  impor- 
tance. Whether  the  Tyrians  went  by  sea  to  India,  or  obtained 
Indian  products  from  Arabs,  in  Arabia  Felix,  is  doubtful. 
When  Solomon  engaged  in  commerce,  and  went  into  partner- 
ship with  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  their  ships  were  sent  down 
the  Red  Sea  to  Ophir,  the  position  of  which  is  not  known. 
His  commercial  enterprise  induced  Solomon  to  build  Tadmor 
in  the  Wilderness,  which  the  Greeks  called  Palmyra,  as  a 
resting-place  for  caravans.  It  is  one  hundred  miles  from  the 
Euphrates,  and  two  hundred  from  the  Mediterranean.  The 
grandeur  of  Egypt,  and  perhaps  its  structures,  were  derived 
from  commerce  undoubtedly  connected  with  India  across  the 
Eurythrean,  or  Indian  Sea.  The  merchandise  was  brought 
to  Berenice,  a  port  near  Babelmandel,  the  south  end  of  the 
Red  Sea,  thence  through  Abyssinia  to  Moroe,  and  down  the 
Nile.  All  this  course  of  traffic  appears  to  have  been  well 
understood  by  Alexander,  and,  to  secure  its  profits,  he  built 
Alexandria.* 

The  earliest  authentic  knowledge  of  Indian  commerce  is 
derived  from  Alexander's  invasion.  It  was  then  divided  into 
rich  and  powerful  kingdoms,  which  could  only  have  been 
from  long-continued  commerce.  The  Indians  were  then,  as 
of  the  present  day,  a  people  of  slender  form,  dark  complexion, 
black  uncurled  hair,  clad  in  cotton,  living  on  vegetable  food. 
When  Egypt  was  subdued  by  the  Romans,  30  B.  C.,  they  had 
learned  the  utility  and  the  luxuries  of  commerce.  They  gave 
a  powerful  patronage  to  that  which  was  carried  on  with  India 
through  Egypt,  as  well  as  to  that  which  was  conducted  through 
the  Gulf  of  Persia,  and  thence  by  caravans.  When  the  regu- 
larity of  the  monsoons  was  discovered  by  Heppalus,  voyages 
were  greatly  accelerated.  Rome  now  enjoyed,  and  eagerly 
sought,  the  spices,  the  aromatics,"  the  precious  gems,  the  pearls, 
cotton  and  silk,  which  India  produced,  and  gave,  in  exchange, 
the  gold  of  which  she  had  rifled  all  the  world.  In  the  reign 
of  Aurelian,  A.  D.  275,  a  pound  of  India  silk  was  worth  a 
pound  of  gold  in  Rome.  To  the  articles  already  mentioned, 
may  be  added  all  those  which  are  familiarly  known  as  Indian 
products  of  the  present  day,  showing  that  the  skill  and  manip- 

*  All  the  detail  of  this  ancient  commerce  is  thoroughly  investigated 
by  Professor  Heeren,  but  there  is  no  space  to  examine  it  here, 


580  INDIA. 

ulation  of  this  people  must  be  referred  to  great  antiquity,  and 
must  have  been  of  their  own  invention. 

After  the  conquest  of  the  Roman  empire  of  the  west,  by 
the  barbarians,  in  475,  nothing  is  heard  of  commerce  with 
India  by  the  way  of  Egypt.  The  church  was  then  inserting 
its  deep  and  lasting  roots  into  society,  its  branches  extending 
on  all  sides  from  Rome,  while  the  seat  of  barbarian  empire 
was  at  Ravenna.  The  eastern  empire,  seated  at  Constantino- 
ple, had  but  a  precarious  supply  of  Indian  merchandise,  since 
it  was  rarely  at  peace  with  the  Persians.  In  Justinian's  reign, 
about  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  two  missionaries,  who 
had  found  their  way  to  China,  returned  with  the  eggs  of  the 
silk-worm  in  the  hollow  of  their  canes,  which  were  hatched, 
by  artificial  heat,  at  Constantinople,  and  thus  introduced  the 
silk-worm  into  Greece.  The  modern  name,  Morea,  the  ancient 
Peloponnesus,  is  derived  from  morus,  the  Latin  name  for  the 
mulberry,  which  may  be  connected  with  this  fact.  It  is  prob- 
able that  the  culture  of  silk  in  the  Morea,  supplied,  in  some 
degree,  the  privation  of  that  article  from  India.  Before  the 
middle  of  the  seventh  century,  the  Mahometans  had  become 
masters  of  Egypt,  and  of  all  the  country  eastward,  to  India, 
and  have  been  mentioned  as  entering  India  as  conquerors,  in 
710. 

The  Arabs,  having  established  themselves  on  the  Tigris, 
engaged  as  zealously  in  commerce  as  they  had  done  in  propa- 
gating the  religion  of  their  prophet.  The  caliph  Omar  built 
Bassora  (in  635)  with  a  special  view  to  the  trade  with  India. 
We  need  not  stop  to  show  the  splendor  of  the  Arabian  power 
here,  where  the  Babylon  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  Seleucia  of 
Selucus,  the  Ctesiphon  of  the  Parthians,  and  then  of  the  Per- 
sians, had  flourished,  and  where  their  own  Bagdad  followed 
in  their  train.*  The  Arabs  engrossed  the  commerce  of  India, 
and  the  supply  of  Europe  was  wholly  dependent  on  them. 
As  they  were  almost  incessantly  at  war  with  the  tottering 
Greek  empire,  and  as  all  the  rest  of  Europe  was  then  semi- 
barbarian,  the  products  of  India  rarely  passed  to  the  west  of 
the  Arabs. 

When  the  Turks,  about  the  year  1253,  had  entirely  prostra- 
ted the  Arabian  empire,  the  commerce  with  India  ceased,  as 
these  new  sovereigns  knew  nothing  of  its  value.  If  the  Hin- 
doos had  been  accustomed  to  make  and  preserve  historical 

*  The  present  Bagdad  of  the  Turks,  is  just  below  that  of  the  Arabs, 
on  the  Tigris. 


INDIA.  581 

records,  it  would  be  known  from  them  what  effect  the  revolu- 
tions in  the  countries  around  the  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean had  on  their  prosperity.  No  information  of  this  nature 
has  been  disclosed  by  the  diligent  examiners  of  their  fortunes. 

The  crusades  had  given  a  new  impulse  to  eastern  Europe. 
Italy  now  appears  in  the  commercial  world  with  extraordinary 
splendor.  In  the  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and  fifteenth  centuries, 
the  Venetians,  Genoese,  and  Florentines,  are  seen  to  elevate 
their  cities  to  the  dignity  of  empires.  The  Genoese  were 
able  to  renew  the  commerce  with  India,  through  Egypt,  by 
permissive  treaties  with  the  Mamalukes,  who  had  now  become 
the  masters  of  Egypt.  This  was  the  time, — the  beginning  of 
the  fifteenth  century, — when  the  merchant  princes  of  Florence 
enlightened  and  adorned  the  world. 

Meanwhile  a  plan  was  engendering,  in  the  brain  of  Colum- 
bus, which  was  destined,  by  its  example,  to  prostrate  the  com- 
mercial grandeur  of  Italy.  This  adventurous  man  had  opened 
a  new  world  to  Europe,  and  had  inspired  the  hope  that  India 
could  be  found  by  passing  around  Africa.  To  Vasco  de 
Gama,  of  Lisbon,  belongs  the  honor  of  having  shown  to  the 
ship-owners  of  Europe  the  way  to  India.  His  first  successful 
attempt  was  made  in  1498.  The  commercial  intercourse  of 
Europe  with  the  east,  from  this  time,  by  the  way  of  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  is  foreign  to  the  present  purpose.  The  effect 
on  India  is  otherwise. 

Whatever  benefits  Europe  may  have  derived  from  opening 
a  maritime  intercourse  with  India,  the  consequences  to  the 
original  people  of  the  east  have  been  mournful.  China,  only, 
by  a  relentless  policy,  has  hitherto  maintained  its  independence, 
without  losing  the  benefits  of  commerce.  The  policy  pursued 
towards  the  natives  may  have  been  forced  on  the  Europeans  ;  if 
not,  it  was  often  mutually  disastrous,  unwise,  perhaps  treacher- 
ous and  cruel,  especially  on  the  part  of  the  Portuguese.  Force 
soon  became  necessary,  and  all  that  was  acquired  may  be  said 
to  have  been  yielded  at  the  point  of  the  sword.  If  there  were 
true  and  faithful  historical  records  of  eastern  experience,  they 
would  probably  disclose  a  deplorable  picture  of  the  joint  opera- 
tion of  bigotry,  avarice,  and  ambition. 

Gama  established  himself,  about  1500,  at  Goa,  on  the  west- 
ern (Malabar)  coast  of  the  peninsula,  latitude  sixteen  degrees 
north,  longitude  seventy-four  degrees  east,  and  this  became  the 
seat  of  Portuguese  empire  in  India. 

Almeida  was  the  first  viceroy  of  India,  in   1505.     He  did 
nothing  to  conciliate  his  new  subjects.     On  the  other  hand, 
49* 


582  INDIA. 

he  is  represented  to  have  been  a  fierce  and  unsparing  warrior. 
His  son  Lorenzo,  under  Almeida's  orders,  established  the 
•  Portuguese  power  in  Ceylon.  Almeida  was  succeeded  by  the 
celebrated  Alphonso  de  Albuquerque,  who  effected  a  settle- 
ment at  Ormus,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  The 
king  of  Persia  sent  his  ambassadors  to  demand  the  accustomed 
tribute.  The  viceroy  laid  before  them  a  bullet  and  a  sword : 
"  These,"  said  he,  "  are  the  coin  in  which  Portugal  pays  her 
tribute."  He  acquired  dominion  over  the  whole  of  the  Mala- 
bar coast — extended  the  power  of  the  Portuguese  in  the  island 
of  Ceylon — acquired  a  large  portion  of  the  peninsula  of  Ma- 
lucca,  and  conquered  the  Sunda  Isles.  He  was  by  far  the 
worthiest  of  the  Portuguese  who,  in  that  day,  appeared  in  the 
east.  He  is  mentioned  as  having  been  "  active,  cautious,  wise, 
just,  and  humane."  It  is  not  known,  historically,  what  the 
Indians  thought  and  said  of  him.  It  is  much  in  his  praise,  if 
it  be  true,  that  the  Indians  made  pilgrimages  to  his  tomb,  to 
beseech  him  to  protect  them  from  the  tyranny  of  his  succes- 
sors. 

The  grandeur  of  the  Portuguese  was  not  of  long  duration. 
If  it  be  allowed  a  whole  century,  that  may  cover  the  extent  of 
it,  though  its  power  continued,  in  a  declining  state,  till  it  was 
wholly  lost,  (except  as  to  the  first  possesion,  Goa,)  when  Por- 
tugal came  under  the  dominion  of  Spain,  in  1580. 

In  1602,  the  Dutch  appeared  in  the  east.  They  assumed 
to  aid  the  people  of  Ceylon  against  the  oppression  of  the  Por- 
tuguese, and  succeeded  in  gaining  a  footing  on  the  island. 
They  soon  expelled  the  Portuguese.  If  the  Dutch  are  fairly 
dealt  with  in  history,  they  were  very  uncomfortable  friends  to 
the  poor  people  of  Ceylon,  who  were  driven  on  to  the  high- 
lands in  the  interior,  while  the  Dutch  possessed  the  fertile 
lowlands  which  border  all  around  on  the  coast.  Ceylon 
abounds  in  rich  merchandise.  Cinnamon,  pearls,  and  ele- 
phants are  said  to  be  of  superior  worth  on  this  island.  After 
various  attempts,  both  by  the  French  and  English,  to  dispos- 
sess the  Dutch,  they  held  the  island,  with  one  interruption,  till 
1795,  when  it  was  added  to  the  vast  territories  of  the  English 
in  the  east.  It  now  belongs  to  the  crown,  not  to  the  East 
India  Company. 

The  Dutch  gradually  drove  the  Portuguese  out  of  most  of 
their  possessions.  Having  no  room  for  details,  it  appears  that 
in  1621  the  Dutch  gained  the  Moluccas;  in  1633,  Japan;  in 
1641,  Malacca  ;  in  1660,  the  Celebes  Isles;  and,  by  1663,  the 
places  held  on  the  Malabar  coast,  except  Goa,  and  a  small 


BRITISH    INDIA.  583 

territory  around  it.  The  Dutch  had  established  themselves  at 
Java,  which  the  English  took  from  them,  and  afterwards  re- 
stored by  treaty,  and  which  they  still  hold  as  a  colony. 

The  French  turned  their  attention  to  India  about  the  year 
1665,  and  first  established  themselves  at  Pondicherry,  on  the 
south-eastern  (or  Coromandel)  coast  of  the  Peninsula,  (lat.  12, 
N.  long.  80,  east)  then  an  inconsiderable  place.  The  French 
were  the  first  to  gain  a  settlement  on  a  branch  of  the  Ganges. 
This  occurred  at  Chandernagore,  on  the  Hoogly,  (a  little  north 
of  Calcutta)  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  They  had 
several  places  of  deposit  in  the  Peninsula,  in  the  next  fifty 
years,  which  they  successively  lost  in  the  wars  between  their 
country  and  England.  The  means  are  not  at  hand  to  ascertain 
precisely  their  possessions,  but  they  are  believed  to  be  very  in- 
considerable. Pondicherry,  and  its  territory  of  about  85  square 
miles,  is  the  principal  one.  It  has  been  repeatedly  taken  by 
the  English,  and  restored  by  treaty,  the  last  time  at  the  peace 
of  1814. 


CHAPTER  LXXVl. 

INDIA. 

British  Conquests  and  Possessions  in  India: 

The  British  possessions  in  India  present  a  most  extraordina- 
ry feature  in  the  history  of  nations.  A  sovereignty,  held  by  a 
company  of  merchants,  over  a  territory  of  5 13,000  square  miles, 
and  over  a  population  of  90  millions,  is  a  phenomenon.  The 
English  were  late  in  the  field,  but  they  have  carried  it,  over 
all  competitors,  and  over  all  adversaries.  The  first  East  India 
Company  arose  from  a  grant  of  the  crown,  in  1599.  Crom- 
well annulled  the  grant,  which  had  proved  to  be  neither  of 
public  nor  private  utility ;  but  he  renewed  it  again.  In  the 
time  of  the  commonwealth,  the  English  possessed  themselves 
of  factories  at  Bombay  and  Madras.  Grants,  or  charters,  by  the 
crown  to  the  East  India  Companies,  had  been  repeatedly  re- 
newed, and  the  course  of  affairs  show  a  peculiar  connexion  be- 
tween the  company  and  the  government  of  England.  Some- 
times the  government  was  borrower,  and  the  company  lender ; 
and  sometimes  the  case  was  reversed.     The  details  and  the  for- 


584  BRITISH    INDIA. 

tunes  of  the  company  are  not  interesting,  until  about  the  be- 
ginning of  the  last  century. 

In  1708,  an  act  of  parliament  established  the  present  East 
India  Company,  by  the  name  of  The  United  Company  of 
Merchants  of  England,  trading  to  the  East  Indies.  About  the 
same  time,  (as  near  as  the  date  is  ascertained,)  an  embassy  had 
been  sent  to  the  Mogul  emperor,  by  the  British  merchants  at 
Surat,  (a  large  and  ancient  city,  150  miles  north  of  Bombay,) 
in  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  firman,  or  grant  of  territorial  juris- 
diction. The  emperor,  (by  a  course  of  events  for  which  there 
is  no  space  here,)  was  about  to  marry  a  Hindoo  princess;  the 
nuptials  were  prevented  by  a  malady  of  the  emperor.  An 
English  gentleman,  named  Hamilton,  was  consulted,  and  effect- 
ed a  cure.  The  marriage  was  celebrated  with  great  pomp.  In 
oriental  style,  "the  illuminations  rivalled  the  planets,  and  seem- 
ed to  upbraid  the  faint  lustre  of  the  stars."  The  grateful  mon- 
arch requested  Hamilton  to  name  his  reward,  who  satisfied 
himself  with  obtaining  the  object  of  the  mission.  This  is  said 
to  be  the  first  instance  of  British  sovereignty  in  India.  [Tod, 
ch.  1,  p.  401.J 

It  was  not,  however,  till  1748,  that  the  company  began  to  as- 
sume political  power.  Hitherto  the  military  power  had  been 
used  only  in  defence  of  the  forts  and  factories.  They  had  not 
a  force  adequate  to  offensive  operations.  The  French  had  set 
an  example  in  taking  natives  into  their  service,  of  which  the 
English  have  profited.  The  native  soldier  is  called  seapoy, 
sepoy,  or  sipoy,  (from  sip,  bow,  or  arrow,)  and  was  employed 
because  European  troops  could  not  be  had.  Thus,  in  the  east, 
as  in  the  west,  natives  have  opposed  each  other  to  make  the 
conquest  of  their  own  country  inevitable. 

The  last  public  statement  which  has  been  met  with,  esti- 
mates the  British  exports  from  India  at  14  millions  annually — 
and  the  imports  at  about  the  same  sum.  Annual  duties  paid 
in  England  4  millions.  Annual  contributions  to  government 
in  England,  1 1  millions.  The  company  have  200,000  men 
under  arms,  and  nearly  16,000  civil  officers. 

Several  views  may  be  taken  of  this  state  of  the  ancient,  rich, 
and  beautiful  India.  If  the  human  race  were  created  for  no 
better  purpose  than  to  show  how  the  ingenious,  educated,  and 
strong  can  subdue  and  make  profitable  to  them  any  and  all  who 
are  inferior  in  these  qualities,  then  British  India  is  a  glorious 
example  of  the  exercise  of  talents.  The  conquest  of  India, 
regarded  as  a  commercial  enterprise;  is  magnificent,  and  far 
beyond  anything  that  men  have  done.  The  conquests,  col- 
onies, and  maritime  force  of  the  political  power  of  Venice, 


BRITISH    INDIA. 


585 


Genoa,  and  Florence,  are  Lilliputian  efforts  in  comparison  with 
those  of  the  East  India  Company.  Among  the  consequences 
are,  that  London,  from  which  all  proceed,  and  to  which  all  re- 
turn, is,  (from  this  and  other  contributary  sources,  at  home  and 
abroad,)  the  grandest  commercial  city  of  any  country,  and  of  any 
age.  Its  population  is  computed  at  1,750,000.  It  is  the  great- 
east  city  now  standing  on  the  globe,  unless  Pekin  is  greater,  of 
which  there  may  be  doubt.  It  is  very  difficult  to  ascertain 
Chinese  population.  In  the  time  of  Augustus,  just  before  our 
era,  and  when  Rome  was  the  capital  of  the  world,  it  was  said 
to  contain  four  millions.  But  Gibbon  enters  into  a  careful  anal- 
ysis to  show  that  no  more  than  1,200,000  ought  to  be  regarded 
as  the  highest  extent.  If  we  take  the  whole  number  of  people 
of  the  island  of  Great  Britain,  and  divide  the  whole  property 
owned  by  them,  by  that  number,  the  dividend  would  be  far 
greater  to  each  one,  than  a  similar  experiment  would  show  as 
to  an  equal  number  of  persons  of  any  other  country,  of  any 
time,  present  or  past.  The  national  debt  has  nothing  to  do  with 
this  case,  because  it  is  due  from  the  inhabitants  of  England  to 
themselves.  England  is,  and  long  has  been  the  greatest  mari- 
time power  of  any  age,  and  has  achieved  the  greatest  victories 
of  any  nation,  on  the  ocean.  On  the  land,  her  arms  have 
again  and  again  settled  the  destinies  of  Europe.  All  this  gran- 
deur springs  from  the  head  and  from  the  hand,  applied  to  in- 
ternal industry,  and  commerce,  as  well  that  which  her  own 
subjects  carry  on  with  each  other,  as  that  which  is  had  with 
other  nations.     This  is  the  worldly  view  of  the  matter. 

This  grandeur,  like  that  of  Rome,  has  been  costly.  Nations 
have  no  hereafter.  If  they  do  wrong  the  punishment  must 
come  upon  the  generation  in  whose  time  it  is  done,  or  on  their 
descendants — otherwise  it  comes  not  at  all.  It  may  be  a  very 
different  case  with  the  individuals,  by  whose  voluntary  act  the 
wrong  is  done.  In  this  mode  of  judging  of  human  actions,  it 
is  probable  that  there  are  some  sins  to  be  answered  for.  As 
the  Carthagenians  left  no  history  of  their  three  great  wars  with 
Rome,  we  have  only  such  history  as  Romans  gave  ;  the  voice 
of  India  is  not  loud  enough  to  be  heard  around  half  the  globe. 
The  only  sources  of  information  are  British  records  ;  they  tell 
of  valorous  deeds  done  in  India ;  of  the  glittering  grandeur  of 
Hindoo  armies  that  have  disappeared,  by  death  or  flight,  before 
a  tenth  part  of  their  number.  Vast  territories  ceded,  immense 
sums  secured  by  capitulations,  the  enriching  tributes  yielded 
on  treaties  of  peace,  and,  finally,  the  power  of  unlimited  and 
irresponsible  taxation,  over  half  a  million  of  square  miles,  in 


686  BRITISH    INDIA. 

one  of  the  richest  countries  of  the  earth,  bearing  one  person 
for  every  square  mile  and  an  half.  [The  United  States  have 
not  one  person  for  every  14  square  miles.]  The  company  take 
no  reproaches  to  themselves  for  these  results  ;  they  are  rather 
glories  which  illustrate  the  British  name.  If  the  company 
were  asked  how  they  justify  themselves,  they  would  probably 
veil  the  right  of  the  strongest,  which  has  ever  been  the  law  of 
rational  man  towards  his  fellow,  by  necessity.  Was  it  not  law- 
ful to  attack  and  Conquer  those  who  would  have  expelled  us 
from  the  country  ?  What  answer  would  the  saints  and  sages, 
who  repose  on  Plymouth  Hill,  make  to  that  plea  1  And  what 
would  the  ghost  of  the  noble  king  Philip  have  to  say  on  this 
matter  1  The  astonishing  power  of  the  British  in  India  grew 
up,  just  as  the  power  of  the  British  in  America  grew  up,  at  an 
earlier  date.  On  both  sides  of  the  globe  the  British  and  the 
French  met,  and  took  part  adversely  to  each  other  with  the  na- 
tives. In  1751,  the  Nabob  of  Arcot  was  contending  with  a 
native  enemy,  whom  the  French  were  aiding.  The  English 
aided  the  Nabob  in  like  manner.  In  1756,  the  Mogul  empe- 
ror, or  Subah,  called  Ali- Verdi  Khan,  died.  Just  before  his 
death  he  said  iv  hla  auu^caoux,  m  ldatiuii  lo  ilie  Euiupcane 
who  had  entered  India, — "The  power  of  English  is  great; 
reduce  them  first ;  the  others  will  give  you  little  trouble.  Suf- 
fer them  not  to  have  forts,  or  soldiers,  if  you  do,  the  country  is 
not  yours."  In  attempting  to  give  effect  to  this  advice,  the  suc- 
cessor, Son  Rajah  Dowla,  was  defeated,  and  a  successor  ap- 
pointed by  the  English,  who  paid  a  large  sum  in  money,  and 
ceded  the  sovereignty  of  a  considerable  territory  near  Calcut- 
ta. It  was  in  this  conflict  (1756)  that  the  horrible  tragedy  oc- 
curred which  is  familarly  known  by  the  name  of  the  "The 
Black  Hole,  at  Calcutta."  In  the  course  of  the  warfare,  Son 
Rajah  Dowla  had  beaten  the  English,  at  this  place :  he  took 
146  Englishmen,  and  confined  them  in  a  "  hole  "  about  eighteen 
feet  square,  from  which  the  air  was  excluded,  except  through 
two  windows  barred  with  iron.  The  door  was  closed  on  them 
at  8  in  the  evening,  and  not  opened  until  6  the  next  morning, 
when  all  were  dead  but  23,  and  most  of  these  in  a  high  state  of 
putrid  fever.  The  detail  of  this  night's  torments  may  be  left 
to  the  imagination ;  it  cannot  transcend  the  reality. 

It  fell  to  the  lot  of  a  gentleman,  who  was  afterward  Lord 
Clive,  to  take  vengeance  for  this  act.  He  was,  in  fact,  the  found- 
er of  the  military  empire  of  the  Company.  His  career  in  In- 
dia was  what  some  military  men  call  glorious.  He  was  there 
from  1747  to  1761,  deducting  an  absence  to  England.     When 


BRITISH  INDIA.  587 

he  finally  returned,  he  was  immensely  rich,  and  was  cre- 
ated a  Lord  by  the  title  of  Baron  of  Plassey,  the  name  of  a 
place  in  which  he  gained  a  signal  victory.  A  severe  attack 
was  made  on  him  in  the  House  of  Commons,  but  it  ended  in 
a  vote  of  approbation.  Though  apparently  possessed  of  all 
means  of  earthly  happiness,  he  fell  into  a  state  of  gloom  and 
despondency,  and  ended  his  life,  in  1774  at  the  age  of  50. 

After  him,  Warring  Hastings  appeared  as  the  great  man  of 
the  New  Eastern  empire.  He  held  the  office  of  Governor 
General  of  India,  from  1773  to  1785,  something  may  be  made 
known  of  his  administration  from  perusal  of  the  most  splendid 
judicial  pageant  that  ever  occurred,  and  in  which  illustrious 
actors  are  seen.  On  his  return  to  England,  the  House  of  Com- 
mons presented  articles  of  impeachment  against  him  to  the 
House  of  Lords.  The  articles  were  carried  up  in  May,  1787, 
and  the  trial  went  on  with  no  other  intermission  than  that  which 
was  inevitable  from  the  remoteness  of  the  country  whence  wit- 
nesses and  evidence  were  to  come.  It  closed  in  April,  1795, 
by  an  acquittal  of  the  charges,  but  in  a  sentence  to  pay  costs, 
which  exceeded  the  sum  of  315.000  dollars.  He  had,  besides, 
his  own  costs  to  pay.  The  cost  to  the  Crown  exceeded  440,000 
dollars.  The  Company,  however,  indemnified  Mr.  Hastings. 
After  Warren  Hastings,  the  present  Duke  of  Wellington  figured 
in  India ;  but  it  is  not  recollected  that  his  conduct  was  reproached. 
It  is  not  the  present  purpose  to  express  opinions  on  the  moral 
or  political  conduct  of  Englishmen  in  India.  Any  attempt  to 
do  this  might  provoke  recrimination,  and  the  question  might  be, 
whether  the  English  in  the  East,  or  the  descendants  of  the 
English  in  the  West,  have  the  heaviest  burthen  of  moral  wrong. 
There  is  nothing  new  or  wonderful  in  either  case.  Men  have 
always  exercised  the  right  of  the  strongest,  whether  the  strength 
resided  in  the  head,  or  in  the  hand,  or  in  both.  They  have 
always  excused  and  commonly  justified  all  such  exercise  of 
power  as  self-defensive,  as  necessary  chastisement,  or  as  public 
good.  However  these  things  may  be,  it  is  amusing  to  see  with 
what  complacency  so  sensible  and  candid  a  man  as  Col.  Tod 
exults  in  the  grandeur  and  friendly  influence  which  the  English 
exercise  over  the  fallen  tribes  of  Hindostan,  and  with  what 
amiable  and  benignant  temper  they  command  peace  in  the  con- 
flicts of  their  Hindoo  chiefs. 

It  was  intended  to  have  made  some  geographical  sketches  of 
India,  and  of  that  plain  of  1350  miles  in  length,  through  which 
the  waters  of  the  noble  and  enriching  Ganges  flow ;  (one  should 
rather  say  sacred  waters,  because  the  Hindoos  believe  that  they 


588  CHIN-INDIA. 

issue  from  Vishnou's  foot,)  but  our  limits  do  not  permit  a  fur- 
ther notice.* 

To  end,  then — here  is  an  astonishing  empire  in  India,  another 
rapidly  increasing  in  New  Holland,  comprising  three  millions 
of  square  miles,  (United  States  about  two  millions) — and  here 
in  the  west,  one  vast  continent  inhabited,  with  little  exception, 
by  people  whose  language  is  English.  One  hazards  nothing 
in  assuming,  that  within  a  century,  one  half  of  all  the  people 
of  the  earth  will  speak,  as  a  mother  tongue,  or  by  adoption  the 
language  of  one  part  of  the  little  isle  of  Britain. 


CHAPTER  LXXVII. 

CHIN-INDIA. 

Eastwardly  from  India,  and  between  it  and  China,  is  an 
extensive  country,  commonly  called  Further  India,  or  the 
Further  Peninsula.  Malte  Brun,  for  reasons  which  appear  to 
be  sufficient,  proposes  to  call  this  country  Chin- India ;  by 
that  name  it  will,  probably,  be  known  in  future.  Neither  its 
commercial  nor  historical  relations  require  much  notice. 

Chin-India  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  India,  south-west  by 
the  Bay  of  Bengal  and  the  Straits  of  Malacca ;  south-east  by 
the  Chinese  Sea ;  north-east  by  China ;  northwardly  by  the 
mountains  which  separate  it  from  Thibet.  These  mountains 
are  a  continuation  of  the  Himmeleh  range.  From  the  north 
boundary  to  the  end  of  the  peninsula  of  Malacca,  the  line  is 
nearly  two  thousand  miles.  From  India  across  to  China,  the 
broadest  part  is  about  thirteen  hundred  miles.  Latitude  from 
one  to  twenty-seven  north ;  longitude  ninety  to  one  hundred 
and  nine  east.  It  contains  not  far  from  the  same  number  of 
square  miles  as  are  contained  in  the  United  States.  Its  natu- 
ral products  are  many  and  valuable,  consisting  of  timber-trees, 
spice-trees,  various  plants  and  fruits,  and  it  is  rich  in  mines 
and  precious  stones.  Science,  art,  and  industry  have  done 
very  little  to  give  a  commercial  value  to  these  products.  In 
the  north-western  part  of  Chin-India,  between  Bengal  Bay  and 
the  northern  mountains,  the  British  East  India  Company  has 
added  large  territories  to  their  possessions,  and  is  gradually 

*  Lately-,  the  monopoly  of  the  East  India  Company  has  been  abol- 
ished, and  the  commerce  thrown  open  to  all  British  subjects. 


CHIN-INDIA. 

extending  its  dominion  south-eastwardly  along  the  coast.  East- 
wardly  of  these  possessions  is  the  Birman  empire,  with  which 
the  British  have  been  sometimes  at  war.  South-east  of  the 
British  and  the  Birmans,  are  the  kingdom  of  Siam  and  the 
empire  of  Annam ;  and  on  the  long  peninsula  of  Malacca 
(five  hundred  and  fifty  miles  by  about  seventy)  are  several 
native  independent  states.  The  interior  of  this  country,  not 
before  mentioned,  is  held  by  similar  states.  Neither  commer- 
cial enterprise,  nor  the  desire  to  add  to  the  stores  of  useful 
knowledge,  nor  the  desire  to  propagate  Christianity,  have  in- 
duced Europeans  to  adventure  much  into  this  country.  Little 
is  known  beyond  the  shores,  and  that  little  is  not  important. 

The  population  is  thought  to  have  been  derived  from  the 
north,  from  India,  and  from  China,  at  an  early  period.  Per- 
sonal resemblance,  the  religion  of  Budha,  and  the  languages, 
(of  which  there  are  at  least  five  different  ones,)  affected  as  all 
these  are  by  the  lapse  of  ages,  leave  no  doubt  of  this  origin. 
The  Portuguese  introduced  the  Catholic  religion,  of  which 
there  are  some  professors.  The  religion  of  Fo,  from  China, 
is  found  here,  and  the  rude  tribes  are  of  that  low  order  of 
idolaters  who  are  called  Fetechists,  or  worshippers  of  stones, 
arms,  vessels,  plants,  and  other  inanimate  objects. 

There  are  some  historical  details  of  this  country,  but  they 
consist  of  nothing  more  than  the  common  course  of  violence 
and  crime,  incident  to  all  human  society,  when  government  is 
mere  despotism.  If  this  country  should  ever  be  blessed  with 
intelligence  and  refinement,  it  is  capable  of  becoming  rich  and 
powerful.  Some  of  its  products,  and  the  mechanical  ingenuity 
of  some  of  its  inhabitants,  afford  the  assurance  that  it  might 
sustain  a  very  valuable  commerce.  The  industrious  and  capa- 
ble Make  Brun  has  collected  and  arranged, — in  the  fifty-first 
and  fifty-second  books  of  his  Geography, — all  that  is  known 
of  Chin-India. 


50 


590  CHINA. 


CHAPTER   LXXVIII. 

CHINA. 

Geography  of  China — Origin  of  Chinese — Great  Wall — Elements  of 
History — Tartar  Dynasty  of  1664 — Characteristics — Government — For- 
eigners— Language — Religion— Present  Condition. 

China  is  the  end  of  continental  Asia  in  the  east.  The  pol- 
icy of  the  Chinese,  long  persevered  in, — the  exclusion  of 
strangers, — may  have  preserved  them  from  a  destiny  similar 
to  that  of  the  Hindoos  ;  but  it  has  prevented  them  from  chang- 
ing their  condition  for  the  better.  They  are  the  only  people 
of  the  earth  who  are  proud  of  having  learned  nothing,  for- 
gotten nothing,  changed  in  nothing,  through  thousands  of 
years.  They  are  fixed  in  the  opinion  that  they  are  eminently 
the  superiors  of  all  nations.  As  no  earthly  name  can  express 
their  grandeur,  they  call  themselves  the  Celestial  Empire. 
Their  pretensions  will  be  tested  by  considering  the  facts  dis- 
closed by  some  of  the  few  persons  who  have  gained  admission 
to  this  country. 

Chinese  territories  are  geographically  divided  into  those 
which  are  south,  and  those  which  are  north  of  the  great  wall. 
China  Proper  is  south  of  the  wall.  Mr.  Barrow,  secretary  to 
Lord  Macartney  in  his  embassy  to  the  Chinese  emperor  in 
1792,  says,  that  a  Mandarin,  whom  the  ambassador  interro- 
gated, stated  the  population  at  three  hundred  and  thirty-three 
millions,  according  to  a  census  of  the  preceding  year.  Bar- 
row does  not  credit  this  statement.  Make  Brun  says  that 
some  persons  estimate  the  population  of  China  Proper  at  one 
hundred  and  fifty  millions,  and  the  square  miles  at  537,000. 
GutzlafT,  the  most  recent  historian,  (in  1834,)  says  the  whole 
of  China  comprises  3,010,400  square  miles,  of  which  China 
Proper,  south  of  the  wall,  has  1,298,000,  and  that  the  whole 
amount  of  Chinese  subjects  is  three  hundred  and  sixty-seven 
millions.  If  this  is  right,  China  has  less  than  one  half,  but 
more  than  one  third  of  the  whole  population  of  the  earth. 
Malte  Brun  estimates  the  Chinese  dominions  at  about  one 
tenth  of  the  habitable  globe.  China  and  its  provinces  extend 
from  twenty  to  fifty-five  north  latitude;  from  ninety  to  one 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  east  longitude ;  and,  if  its  eastern 
appendages  be  included,  to  one  hundred  and  forty-three. 


LAMAISM. ORIGIN    OF    CHINESE.  591 

The  climates  of  China  and  its  provinces  are  exceedingly 
varied,  including  tropical  heat  and  excessive  cold.  South  of 
the  great  wall,  its  products  are  similar  to  those  of  India,  with 
the  addition  of  yellow  cotton  and  tea.  The  latter,  within  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  only,  has  become  an  article  of  immense 
traffic,  and  is  used  from  the  palace  down  to  the  cottage,  in 
most  of  the  civilized  world.  Robertson,  in  his  Disquisition 
on  India,  note  fifty-seven,  says, — "  Its  highest  praise  is,  that  it 
is  innoxious."  This  is  a  praise  which  it  does  not  always 
deserve.  The  first  knowledge  of  the  silk-worm  dates  from 
China.  The  patient  ingenuity  of  this  people,  in  various  man- 
ufactures, has  excited  wonder. 

On  the  north,  the  Chinese  provinces  (Mongul  territory) 
adjoin  Russian  Siberia.  Westwardly,  they  extend  to  the  Be- 
loor  mountains,  and  include  Thibet.  Here  is  the  seat  of  that 
singular  religion  called  Lamaism,  professed  by  Thibetians, 
Monguls,  and  Calmucs.  By  this  faith,  Shigemooni  is  the 
Supreme  God.  The  Dalai  Lama,  or  great  Lama,  is  the  rep- 
resentative of  this  god  on  earth,  and  is,  himself,  a  divinity. 
He  is  immortal,  because  his  soul  passes  from  its  last  tenement, 
when  that  decays,  into  a  new  body,  and  the  new  tenement  is 
discovered  by  the  skilful.  This  is  not  unlike  the  papal  suc- 
cession, and  the  Great  Lama  has  attributes  strongly  resembling 
those  of  the  popes.  He  is  surrounded  by  priests,  and  main- 
tains over  these  an  absolute  despotism,  as  to  body  and  mind. 
He  knows  all  things.  He  can  read  the  living  heart.  The 
laying  of  his  sacred  hand  on  the  head  of  any  one,  is  the  par- 
don of  all  earthly  transgression  and  sin.  His  subjects  have 
monasteries  and  idols,  and  celibacy  is  enjoined  on  his  priests. 
He  is  a  temporal  despot  as  well  as  a  spiritual  ruler.  These 
facts  show  that  Lamaism  is  only  one  form  of  the  corruptions 
of  the  Roman  church,  introduced  among  the  ignorant  and 
superstitious  of  the  east  by  the  Nestorian  monks,  who  wan- 
dered thither  in  the  sixth  century.  Prestor  John,  in  the  middle 
ages,  was  supposed  to  be  a  Christian  prince,  somewhere  in  the 
interior  of  Asia.  It  is  now  supposed  that  this  prince  was 
none  other  than  the  early  predecessor  of  the  Grand  Lama. 

The  origin  of  the  Chinese  is  not  certainly  known.  One 
writer  (Heeren)  gives  reasons  for  thinking  that  they  came 
from  a  military  emigration  from  India ;  while  other  writers 
give  satisfactory  reasons  for  believing  that  they  are  of  Tartar 
origin,  and  came  from  the  north.  Among  these  reasons  are 
the  physical  formation,  and  especially  the  form  of  the  eyes, 
which  are  not  found  in  a  straight  line  drawn  across  the  bridge 


592  GREAT    WALL. 

of  the  nose,  as  in  the  Caucassian  or  white  race,  but  placed 
obliquely  to  that  line.  And  also  that  the  interior  ends  of  the 
eyes  are  rounded,  and  the  exterior  angular,  which  are  Tartar 
formations.  The  Chinese  are,  probably,  from  causes  common 
to  all  nations,  invasion,  conquest,  and  emigration,  a  mixed 
people.  Physical  form  and  historical  facts  afford  as  little 
solution  of  the  problem  of  origin,  in  regard  to  the  Chinese,  as 
to  any  people  on  the  globe. 

This  remarkable  nation  claim,  like  the  Hindoos,  an  inad- 
missible antiquity.  They  date  back  many  millions  of  years, 
which  the  best-informed  nations  utterly  exclude,  from  all  com- 
putations of  time.  The  realities  admitted,  as  to  the  Chinese, 
(in  a  condensed  form,)  are  the  following: — 

The  oldest  historical  book  is  said  to  be  called  Shu-King. 
It  is  considered  unworthy  of  credit.  Like  other  nations,  the 
Chinese  begin  with  the  reign  of  imaginary  deities.  It  would 
be  a  waste  of  time  to  state  these  fabrications  of  fancy,  which 
go  back  far  beyond  the  history  of  Moses.  When  we  come 
down  to  a  later  time,  there  is  some  probability  in  Chinese  his- 
tory, because  it  is  consistent  with  those  natural  occurrences 
which  are  known  among  other  nations.  Thus,  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  before  our  era,  China  is  represented 
to  have  been  divided  into  small,  independent  principalities. 
At  this  time,  one  of  their  princes,  called  Chi-hoang-ti,  was 
sufficiently  powerful  to  unite  them  all  in  one  monarchy,  and 
to  have  founded  the  royal  race  of  Ting,  or  Tsin.  This  person 
may  have  been  an  Alexander,  Bajazet,  Tamerlane,  Ghengis 
Khan,  or  Napoleon.  To  his  time  is  referred  the  building  of 
the  Great  Wall  of  China,  the  most  extraordinary  of  all  human 
works.  Its  object  was  to  fence  out  the  Tartars.  It  is  within 
the  parallels  of  thirty-seven  and  forty-one  degrees  of  north 
latitude,  extending  from  the  extreme  west  of  the  province  of 
Shenshee,  longitude  ninety-eight,  to  the  Gulf  of  Petcheli,  fif- 
teen hundred  miles.  The  exterior  is,  generally,  brick  and 
stone,  filled  in  with  earth,  twelve  feet  wide,  thirty  feet  high, 
and  fortified  with  intervening  towers.  Its  course  is  over  val- 
lies,  morasses,  and  mountains.  Mr.  Barrow  calculated  that 
the  dwelling-houses  of  England  and  Scotland,  taken  at  one 
million  eight  hundred  thousand,  are  barely  equal  to  the  bulk 
of  solid  materials  of  the  wall,  exclusive  of  towers.  The  latter 
he  equals  to  the  masonry  and  brick-work  of  London.  Yet, 
this  wall  is  said  to  have  been  built  in  five  years.  Whatever 
its  ancient  utility  may  have  been,  a  Tartar  dynasty  has  occu- 
pied the  Chinese  throne  since  1664.     Some  writers  doubt  tho 


TARTAR    EMPERORS. — CHINESE.  593 

antiquity  of  this  wall.  The  commonly  received  opinion  is, 
that  it  was  built  more  than  two  thousand  years  ago.  It  is 
little  thought  of  by  the  Chinese,  themselves,  and  is  permitted 
to  decay. 

After  an  attentive  study  of  Chinese  history,  from  the  time 
of  this  emperor,  Chi-hoang-ti,  down  to  the  year  1664,  nothing 
is  therein  found  but  the  same  scenes  which  have  been  common 
in  all  the  rest  of  Asia  and  in  Europe,  in  early  ages  of  the 
world.  The  difference  is  little  more  than  the  names  of  agents, 
and  the  particular  part  of  the  earth's  surface  on  which  the 
scenes  occurred.  A  few  sentences  will  comprise  the  political 
history  of  China  in  this  long  lapse  of  time.  A  powerful  mili- 
tary chief,  like  the  emperor  last  named,  connected  the  whole 
country  under  his  dominion.  His  successors  were  able  to 
maintain  that  dominion,  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  against  do- 
mestic factions,  rebellion  of  one  or  more  provincial  governors, 
and  foreign  invasion.  Then  a  new  partition  arose  of  the 
whole  country  into  distinct  sovereignties.  Wars,  treachery, 
and  barbarous  cruelties  marked  their  intercourse  until  a  new 
chief  arose,  capable  of  establishing,  anew,  a  universal  domin- 
ion. This  is  but  the  history  of  Europe  and  of  all  nations ; 
the  elements  are  ever  the  same,  variously  compounded.  It  is 
the  contest  among  a  few,  for  the  power  to  exercise  despotism 
over  the  many.  It  concerns  the  multitude  but  little  by  whom 
that  despotism  is  wielded — their  fate  is  ever  the  same. 

In  1664,  the  present  Tartar  dynasty  established  itself  in 
China.  The  Tartars  found  their  way  as  conquerors,  the  great 
wall  notwithstanding.  The  Chinese  call  it  the  dynasty  of 
Tsim,  or  Tsing.  In  1792,  Lord  Macartney  went  through 
China,  in  the  character  of  ambassador  from  England,  and 
passed  some  days  at  the  seat  of  empire,  the  city  of  Pekin,  in 
the  north.  In  1816,  a  similar  embassy  was  sent,  at  the  head 
of  which  was  Lord  Amherst.  The  object,  on  both  occasions, 
was  to  establish  a  commercial  intercourse,  secured  by  treaties. 
This  object  proved  to  be  unattainable.  It  is  remarkable,  that, 
in  the  changes  and  dissensions  among  the  Chinese,  they  have 
never  departed  from  the  policy  of  excluding  foreigners  from 
their  cities  and  territories,  excepting  in  the  single  port  of  Can- 
ton, for  commerce*  Here,  all  foreigners  are  restricted  to  a 
particular  suburb,  between  the  city  and  the  river ;  and,  on  no 
account,  permitted  to  pass  the  gates  of  the  city.  They  regard 
all  foreigners  w\th  contempt,  and  consider  all  nations,  of  whom 
they  have  any  knowledge.  as  the  dependent  vassals  of  their 
sovereign.  It  is  worthm^uiry,  how  these  millions  of  persons 
50*        X 


594  CHINESE    GOVERNMENT. 

are  occupied,  and  how  the  common  propensities  of  our  nature 
are  directed  among  them.  As  in  all  other  nations,  they  have 
families,  industry,  objects  of  desire  and  aversion,  duties,  delin- 
quences,  pains  and  pleasures,  and  something  called  religion. 
To  these  subjects  a  few  moments  are  due;  but  it  will  be  found 
that  the  people  of  the  Celestial  Empire,  who  hold  themselves 
superior  to  all  mankind,  are  singularly  ignorant,  subdued,  and 
servile. 

The  most  obvious  peculiarities  of  the  Chinese  are  found  in 
their  relative  position  on  the  globe — their  form  of  government 
— their  exclusion  of  foreigners — their  very  singular  language 
— their  agricultural  productions — their  mechanical  skill  — 
their  veneration  of  themselves,  and  their  contempt  for  all  other 
nations.  These  causes,  combined,  have  made  them  incapable 
of  any  social  melioration,  and  have  qualified  them  to  be  a 
nation  of  slaves. 

All  nations,  civilized  or  savage,  must  have  government;  that 
is,  there  must  be  power  capable  of  commanding  obedience  to 
the  law,  whether  the  law  be  established  and  permanent,  or  de- 
pending on  the  will  of  rulers.  The  Chinese  government  is  a 
singularly  modified  despotism,  resembling  the  ancient  patri- 
archal government.  The  emperor  is  the  father  of  the  nation. 
All  the  grades  of  officers  under  him,  exercise  a  parental  author- 
ity over  the  mass  of  people  ;  so  that  all  who  have  no  other  re- 
lation to  the  civil  power,  but  that  of  obedience,  are,  civilly, 
children,  and  the  whole  nation  may  be  comprised  in  the  names 
of  parents  and  children.  •  The  emperor  demands  and  receives 
the  reverence  which  is  due  to  an  austere  and  severe  father.  He 
can  be  approached  only  in  the  form  of  the  humblest  submission ; 
and  is  regarded  rather  as  a  deity,  than  as  a  man.  He  is  presum- 
ed to  know  every  thing,  and  to  order  every  thing  throughout  his 
vast  empire.  This  he  does-,  so  far  as  is  practicable,  through 
the  multitude  of  agents,  or  various  grades  of  officers.  They 
are  his  representatives  as  governors  of  the  provinces,  and  of 
numerous  cities  and  villages. 

He  is  assisted  by  two  councils  ;  the  one,  composed  of  his  six 
ministers  of  state;  the  other,  composed  of  princes  of  the  blood. 
There  are,  also,  six  boards  or  departments.  1.  The  court  of 
appointments,  which  consists  of  the  six  ministers,  and  certain 
learned  men,  who  are  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  candidates. 
2.  The  court  to  whom  is  confided  the  management  of  the  reve- 
nue, and  the  public  expenditures.  3.  The  court  of  ceremonies, 
who  preside  over  the  ancient  customs,  and  who  regulate  the 
forms  of  all  intercourse.     4.  The  court  established  to  regulate 


CHINESE    GOVERNMENT.  595 

military  affairs.  5.  The  tribunal  of  justice.  6.  The  board 
which  superintends  the  public  works.  These  several  courts, 
or  boards,  report  to  the  emperor  on  their  respective  duties  ;  and 
he  consults  his  six  ministers,  or  the  board  of  princes,  as  he 
thinks  proper.  He  adopts  or  rejects  the  opinions  offered,  or 
substitutes  his  own  will,  as  he  pleases. 

Besides  these  councils,  there  are  nine  classes  of  mandarins, 
who  are  the  nobles ;  and  who  are  employed  in  the  various 
provinces  and  cities,  as  executive,  financial,  and  military  offi- 
cers ;  and  who  report  to  the  several  courts,  or  boards,  who  are 
at  the  head  of  these  inferior  departments.  These  public  officers 
hold  the  rank  called  noble  in  other  countries ;  but  the  rank  is 
official,  not  hereditary.  The  power  is  shown  to  be  parental  in 
this:  all  these  mandarins  may  order  the  corporal  punishment 
of  the  bamboo,  whenever  they  think  it  proper ;  and  even  the 
emperor's  ministers  are  subjected  to  the  same  punishment,  by 
his  order.  That  this  is  parental,  is  shown  by  the  fact,  that  no 
disgrace  follows  the  punishment;  the  person  punished  returns 
his  thanks  to  his  superiors  for  his  useful  chastisement;  and  for 
this  kindness  of  making  him  sensible  of  his  errors. 

The  military  power  of  the  Chinese  is  composed  of  a  great 
multitude,  who  are  disposed  of  throughout  the  empire,  not  less, 
it  is  said,  than  800,000  men,  who  are  mostly  employed  in  public 
service  of  various  descriptions,  as  laborers,  and  as  police  officers. 
It  is  only  on  the  northern  and  western  frontiers,  that  they  have 
military  establishments,  as  garrisons  and  encampments. 

In  the  administration  of  justice,  so  material  a  part  of  govern- 
ment in  all  civilized  nations,  the  parental  government  is  again 
apparent.  There  is  no  such  class  as  learned  men  in  the  law. 
There  are  laws  and  ordinances,  the  application  of  which,  to  the 
particular  case,  is  confided  to  the  mandarins,  who  hear  and  de- 
termine, in  a  summary  manner.  Their  punishments  are  not 
sanguinary.  They  consist  of  taking  life,  in  certain  cases;  butthe 
number  put  to  death  is  said  not  to  exceed  200  a  year,  a  small 
number  compared  to  the  immense  population.  Personal  suf- 
fering, of  various  descriptions,  are  the  common  modes  of  pun- 
ishment, and  sometimes  the  dreadful  one  of  banishment.  Con- 
troversies concerning  property,  or  law-suits,  are  very  rare,  as 
custom  and  usage,  through  the  lapse  of  ages,  have  left  but 
little  space  for  litigation. 

The  moral  state  of  China  is  shown  in  the  administration  of 
government,  in  all  its  departments.  Power  exercised  over  so 
widely  extended  an  empire,  by  emissaries,  who  derive  their 
authority  from  the  remote  seat  of  government,  is  liable  to  great 


596  CHINESE    OPINIONS. 

abuse.  Oppression  and  tyranny  are  common,  and  the  remedy, 
being  only  by  complaint  to  the  supreme  head,  is  rarely  practi- 
cable. Here,  then,  as  in  so  many  other  countries,  the  many 
are  subjected  to  the  power  of  a  few,  and  the  wrongs  which  the 
many  suffer,  have  the  poor  consolation  that  they  are  not  as 
grievous  as  they  might  be. 

Chinese  government  is  not  a  beneficent  institution,  designed 
and  adapted  to  secure  to  each  member  of  the  community  the 
enjoyment  of  life,  by  promoting  industry,  knowledge,  security, 
justice;  but  is  a  tyranny,  which  begins  with  the  emperor  and 
descends,  through  various  classes  of  officers,  upon  the  sub- 
jected and  helpless  multitude.  All  these  public  agents,  from 
highest  to  lowest,  besides  the  customary  salaries,  practise  an 
oppressive  exaction,  so  that  the  sentiment  of  a  Chinese  towards 
his  government  is  not  that  of  pride  in  its  excellence,  and  thank- 
fulness for  its  benefits,  but  is  a  feeling  of  slavish  dependence 
and  dread. 

If  there  were  no  other  causes  of  Chinese  degradation,  the 
form  of  government  would  sufficiently  account  for  it.  The 
patriarchal  form  extends  to  domestic  life.  Persons  who  are 
of  the  same  blood,  in  all  the  generations  which  are  living  at 
the  same  time,  have  a  common  home,  in  which  the  power  of 
government  resides  in  the  male  parents.  Females  are  raised 
but  little  above  the  rank  of  menial  slaves,  and  are  not  allowed 
the  pleasures  of  social  intercourse.  The  life  of  a  Chinese  is, 
therefore,  in  his  domestic  relations,  sober  and  joyless.  So  far 
as  his  time  is  not  necessarily  given  to  acquiring  subsistence, 
it  must  be  disposed  of  in  satisfying  the  demand  for  excitement. 
Like  the  indolent  Turk,  he  smokes,  consoles  himself  with 
opium,  or,  like  a  savage,  engages  in  some  game  of  chance. 
In  the  higher  orders  of  society,  the  demand  for  excitement 
naturally  takes,  as  among  other  nations,  the  pleasures  and  the 
pains  of  comparison  in  the  modes  of  life,  and  in  manners  and 
ceremonies.  No  people  are  more  formal  and  ceremonious, 
and  life  is  wasted  in  learning  and  observing  modes  of  action 
in  relation  to  each  other,  which  are  contemptible  in  the  view 
of  the  free  and  civilized.  Such  are  the  effects  of  political 
government,  aided  by  other  causes  to  be  mentioned. 

Position  on  the  globe.  The  Chinese  are  separated  from 
civilized  and  refined  nations  of  Europe  by  so  great  a  distance, 
that  they  are  rarely  visited  by  any  of  these,  except  for  the 
purposes  of  commerce.  On  the  north  and  west  they  have  no 
neighbors  who  could  teach  them  to  better  their  condition,  if 
they  were  disposed  to  be  taught.     On  the  east  and  south  they 


* 


CHINESE    OPINIONS.  597 

are  bounded  by  seas.  These  seas  are  traversed  by  foreigners 
only,  to  approach  one  Chinese  port,  where  they  are  restricted 
to  a  very  limited  intercourse,  for  commercial  purposes  only. 

The  exclusion  of  foreigners.  Whence  this  policy  arose  is 
not  known.  It  may  have  been  suggested  by  the  success  of 
Europeans  in  acquiring  establishments  in  India  and  the  islands 
which  are  south  and  east  of  China.  This  policy  has  not 
always  prevailed,  because,  in  the  year  1682,  the  then  reigning 
emperor,  Kang-hi,  was  a  patron  of  learning  and  learned  men. 
At  this  time,  that  class  of  men  so  well  known  under  the  name 
of  Jesuits,  in  the  Roman  church,  were  attempting  to  propagate 
Christianity  in  China.  In  1692  the  Jesuits  were  protected 
and  encouraged  by  a  public  decree  of  this  emperor.  A  num- 
ber of  them  were  employed  by  him  to  survey  the  empire,  in 
which  service  they  were  engaged  ten  years.  But,  whether 
they  had  excited  distrust  and  jealousy,  or  whether  the  success 
of  the  Europeans  in  India  suggested  the  necessity  of  a  differ- 
ent policy,  the  same  emperor  reversed  this  decree  in  1716. 
He  annulled  all  the  privileges  he  had  granted  to  Christians, 
and  revived  and  enforced  certain  ancient  prohibitory  laws  as 
to  them.  From  that  time  foreigners  have  been  restricted  to 
the  suburbs  of  Canton  for  commercial  dealings,  and  to  a  resi- 
dence on  the  island  of  Macow,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
seventy  miles  below  Canton.  No  European  female  is  per- 
mitted to  approach  Canton  nearer  than  Macow. 

A  contempt  and  aversion  as  to  all  foreigners,  is  the  settled 
policy  of  the  government.  It  has  been  instilled  into  all  sub- 
jects of  the  empire,  by  teaching  them  to  regard  all  other  nations 
much  as  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  respectively,  regarded  all 
others,  that  is,  as  an  inferior  order  of  beings.  The  Chinese 
are  taught  to  believe  that  all  other  nations  acknowledge  their 
superiority,  and  that  it  would  derogate  from  their  dignity  to 
learn  any  thing  from  others,  or  to  have  any  intercourse  with 
them.  It  appears  from  the  accounts  given  of  Lord  Macart- 
ney's embassy,  and  his  passage  through  China,  that  these 
opinions  are  not  those  of  the  rulers  of  China,  as  matter  of 
policy,  but  are  universal.  The  English,  on  this  occasion, 
were  never  permitted  to  gratify  the  curiosity  of  travellers,  but 
were,  at  all  times,  held  under  an  inconvenient  and  irksome 
restraint.  While  this  non-intercourse  prevails,  the  genius  and 
industry  of  the  Chinese  can  derive  no  aid  from  the  progress 
of  other  nations ;  and  under  such  government  and  such  exclu- 
sion,  they  present  the  singular  fact  of  a  nation  who  seem  des- 
tined  neither  to  advance  nor  to  decline. 


LANGUAGE. 

Chinese  Lariguage.  Another  insuperable  difficulty  in  the 
diffusion  of  knowledge  is  the  language  of  this  people.  No 
other  than  their  own  is  known  among  them,  except  at  Canton, 
where  there  are  interpreters,  foi  the  mere  purpose  of  traffic. 
These  are  persons  who  have  knowledge  enough,  by  the  ear, 
of  the  English  language,  to  buy  and  sell,  and  minister  to  the 
wants  of  visiters.  There  are  Europeans  who  have  mastered 
this  difficult  language,  for  the  purposes  of  commerce,  and 
some  who  have  acquired  a  knowledge  sufficient  to  read  their 
literary  works. 

The  language  of  this  country  is  the  best  evidence  that  all 
languages  are  human  inventions.  It  is  easily  traced  to  signs 
intended  to  represent  natural  objects,  and  these  are  combined 
in  such  manner  as  to  represent  intellectual  objects  and  abstract 
ideas.  It  is  a  language  of  monosyllables,  each  monosyllable 
representing  some  known  object.  These  originals  (monosyl- 
lables) are  said  to  amount  to  three  hundred  and  fifty,  and  the 
flexible  organs  of  the  Chinese  can  pronounce,  at  most,  about 
fifteen  hundred  sounds.  But  there  are  said  to  be  eighty  thou- 
sand combinations  of  these  originals,  in  the  form  of  letters, 
which  are  made  by  putting,  into  one  letter,  signs  which  ex- 
press these  syllables ;  some  few  letters  comprise  not  less  than 
seventy  distinct  marks  or  signs.  There  is  often,  therefore,  a 
language  for  the  eye  only ;  that  is,  the  combination  is  such, 
that  no  sounds  will  express  what  is  intended.  In  such  case, 
if  a  person  would  express  that  for  which  there  is  no  sound, 
but  which  may  be  expressed  by  letters,  he  describes  these  let- 
ters by  his  ringer,  or  his  fan,  in  the  air,  as  deaf  and  dumb 
persons  converse.  The  acquisition  of  such  a  language  is 
extremely  difficult,  for  the  student  has  to  learn  how  to  make 
all  these  various  combinations ;  to  which  is  to  be  added  the 
far  more  difficult  task  of  learning  their  signification  when 
made. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  a  language,  so  formed  and  so  ex- 
pressed, should  have  undergone  no  improvement,  from  age  to 
age,  as  all  other  spoken  and  written  languages  are  known  to 
have  done.  The  oldest  Chinese  writings  are  the  same,  in 
appearance,  with  those  which  are  most  modern,  and  the  sounds 
given  to  words  have  probably  undergone  no  change.  Schol- 
arship, or  a  claim  to  be  considered  learned,  consists  of  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  combination  of  Chinese  characters,  and  the  most 
diligent  student,  up  to  the  age  of  manhood,  can  hardly  accom- 
plish more.  There  are  dialects  of  the  Chinese.  In  some  of 
the  provinces  different  words  are  used  to  express  the  same 
object. 


KNOWLEDGE. RELIGION.  599 

Knowledge,  Science.  If  the  Chinese  were  as  able,  natu- 
rally, as  Europeans  are,  to  avail  themselves  of  inventions  and 
discoveries,  and  to  construct  sciences  from  established  princi- 
ples, they  ought  to  be  better  informed  and  more  scientific  than 
any  other  people.  They  ought  to  be  so,  because  they  have 
had  the  art  of  writing,  and  have  made  books  as  long,  if  not 
longer,  than  any  others.  But  (as  is  known  from  the  history 
of  the  two  embassies)  they  are  children  in  all  the  sciences. 
Necessity  has  forced  on  them  agriculture  and  mechanical 
skill.  They  know  nothing  of  astronomy ;  nothing  of  medi- 
cine, surgery,  anatomy,  or  of  cause  and  effect,  in  the  natural 
world.  With  them,  usage  and  tradition  hold  the  place  of 
science.  Intellectual  attainments  must  be  of  little  worth  among 
a  people  whose  annual  almanacs  are  consulted  to  know  the 
lucky  days  on  which  enterprises  may  be  undertaken,  and  even 
to  know  when  the  most  trivial  acts,  in  the  common  course  of 
life,  should  be  done.  A  people  who  substitute  the  result  of 
chances  for  the  use  of  understanding,  have  small  claim  to  be 
regarded  as  the  superiors  of  all  others. 

Religion  among  the  Chinese  is  one  cause  of  their  degrada- 
tion. There  is  greater  difficulty  in  bringing  the  Chinese  to 
a  knowledge  of  Christianity  than  any  other  eastern  people, 
because  their  language  is  (by  themselves)  acquired  with  much 
labor,  and  because  they  are  reluctant  to  acquire  any  other.  If 
the  government  oppose  no  obstacles,  the  progress  would  be 
more  embarrassed  than  elsewhere  in  Asia.  The  natural  desire 
of  the  human  mind  to  account  for  the  phenomena  and  changes 
of  human  existence, — the  curiosity  to  know  what  becomes  of 
the  dead, — and  the  conviction  which  reaches  every  human 
mind,  however  darkened  by  ignorance,  that  there  is  some 
supreme  and  invisible  power,  whether  good  or  evil,  that  gov- 
erns the  action  of  the  visible  creation,  as  well  as  human  desti- 
ny, is  the  source  of  natural  religion.  These  phenomena  have 
been  accounted  for  in  various  modes  by  those  who  assumed  to 
be  the  most  learned  or  intelligent  in  different  nations;  and  the 
professors  of  this  learning  and  intelligence  have  become, 
every  where,  the  ministers  and  guides  of  the  submissive  igno- 
rant. Thus,  among  all  people,  who  have  not  been  blessed 
with  direct  revelation  of  the  will  of  the  Deity,  there  is  found 
some  kind  of  religious  sentiment,  belief  and  practice,  sanction- 
ed by  the  veneration  due  to  the  customs  and  habits  of  succes- 
sive generations,  and  some  description  of  teachers,  however 
ignorant,  deluded,  or  fraudulent. 

There  has  been  occasion  to  remark,  before,  that  the  earliest 


600  RELIGION. 

religion  which  was  professed,  that  is,  by  the  immediate  descend- 
ants of  Noah,  is  believed  to  have  been  the  worship  of  the 
Almighty.  This  worship,  though  deformed  at  an  early  period 
by  idolatry,  and  finally  lost  in  that  absurdity,  was  carried  by 
the  migrating  tribes,  with  different  degrees  of  purity,  into  dif- 
ferent parts  of  Asia.  But  the  reverence  due  to  the  Creator 
seems  to  have  been  soon  transferred  to  the  visible  creation, 
and  thence  to  have  descended  into  all  the  varieties  of  super- 
stitious and  depraved  customs,  now  known  among  those  who 
have  not  been  enlightened  by  Divine  revelation. 

The  Chinese  have  among  them  five  divisions  of  religion : — 
1.  That  which  has  arisen  out  of  the  original  worship  of  the 
Supreme  Being.  This  religion  is  contained  or  taught  in  cer- 
tain ancient  books,  which  are  called  U-king,  and  which  are 
supposed  to  have  been  written  or  compiled  two  thousand  years 
before  the  Christian  era.  Du  Halde  says,  (vol.  i.  p.  394,) 
"  Nothing  is  more  respected  by  the  Chinese  than  the  five 
books  which  they  call  the  U-king,  or  so  much  revered  by 
them  for  their  antiquity  and  for  the  excellence  of  the  doctrine 
which  (they  say)  they  contain.  These  are,  to  them,  sacred 
writings."  From  the  accounts  given  of  these  books,  they 
strongly  resemble  those  which  are  held  sacred  among  the 
Hindoos,  and  are,  probably,  of  like  antiquity.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  when  these  books  were  written,  the  inhabitants  of 
China  worshipped  a  Supreme  Being  as  the  governor  of  the 
universe,  called  Shang-ti,  or  Tyen.  To  him  prayers  and  sup- 
plications were  addressed,  and  to  him  sacrifices  were  offered. 
The  emperors,  like  the  kings  of  the  Israelites,  held  the  office 
of  high  priest.  To  the  present  day,  the  emperor,  on  great 
occasions,  performs  the  duties  of  this  office. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Lecomte,  a 
missionary,  published  his  new  memoirs  on  the  present  state  of 
China.  He  therein  says, — "The  Chinese  had  adored  the 
true  God  for  two  thousand  years ;  that,  among  the  nations, 
they  were  the  first  who  had  sacrificed  to  their  Creator,  and 
taught  a  true  morality."  [Villiers'  Prize  Essay  on  the  Ref- 
ormation, p.  191.]  This  writer  should  rather  have  said,  that 
the  Chinese  were  the  people  who  had  longest  retained  the 
original  religion  and  the  morality  which  it  enjoined.  The 
praise  bestowed  by  Lecomte  was  due  to  a  very  small  portion 
of  the  Chinese  in  his  time,  and  is,  probably,  due  to  no  part  of 
them  now. 

This  original  religion,  like  many  others,  had  become  de- 
based and  idolatrous  in  the  course  of  fifteen  centuries,  at  the 


CONFUCIUS.  601 

end  of  which  period  Confucius  appeared,  who  is  still  venerat- 
ed among  the  best  informed  of  this  nation.  He  was  born  in 
the  kingdom  of  Lu,  (according  to  Du  Halde,)  now  called  the 
province  of  Shan-tung,  551  years  B.  C. ;  consequently,  two 
years  before  the  death  of  Thales,  one  of  the  seven  wise  men 
of  Greece,  and  was  contemporary  with  Pythagoras  and  with 
Solon.  He  was,  like  the  distinguished  Grecians,  a  teacher  of 
philosophy,  and,  like  them,  had  numerous  disciples.  He  ap- 
peared at  a  time  when  China  was  under  the  dominion  of  an 
unworthy  race  of  princes.  He  had  made  himself  master  of 
the  sacred  books,  before  mentioned,  and  being  deeply  impress- 
ed by  the  depravity  of  the  times,  he  attempted  a  reformation. 
He  "  was  not  solicitous  to  search  into  the  impenetrable  secrets 
of  nature,  but  confined  himself  to  speak  concerning  the  prin- 
ciple of  all  being — to  inspire  reverence,  fear,  and  gratitude  for 
him — to  inculcate  that  nothing,  even  the  most  secret  thought, 
escapes  his  notice — that  he  never  leaves  virtue  without  reward, 
nor  vice  without  punishment,  whatever  the  present  condition 
may  be.  These  are  the  maxims  scattered  throughout  his  works. 
Upon  these  principles  he  governed  himself,  and  endeavored 
a  reformation  of  manners."  He  divided  his  disciples  into 
four  classes : — 1.  Those  who  were  to  cultivate  their  minds  by 
meditation,  and  to  purify  their  hearts  by  virtue.  2.  Those 
who  were  taught  to  reason  justly,  and  compose  persuasive  and 
elegant  discourses.  3.  Those  who  studied  the  rules  of  good 
government,  and  who  qualified  themselves  to  teach  the  man- 
darins how  to  acquit  themselves  worthily  in  public  offices.  4. 
Those  who  taught,  in  a  concise  and  elegant  style,  the  princi- 
ples of  morality.  Du  Halde  says, — V  His  actions  never  con- 
tradicted his  maxims;  and  by  his  gravity,  modesty,  mild- 
ness, and  frugality,  his  contempt  of  earthly  enjoyments,  and 
his  continual  watchfulness  over  his  conduct,  he  was,  himself, 
an  example  of  the  precepts  he  taught  in  his  writings  and  dis- 
courses." Confucius  will  bear  a  very  honorable  comparison 
with  any  of  the  moral  philosophers  of  the  Grecian  schools, 
who  flourished  about  the  same  time,  of  whom  he  was  entirely 
ignorant,  as  they  were  of  him. 

According  to  a  tradition  universally  received  among  the 
Chinese,  (Du  Halde,  vol.  i.  p.  417,)  Confucius  was  frequently 
heard  to  repeat  these  words  : — Si  fang  yew  shing  jin,  import- 
ing that  in  the  west,  the  true  secret  was  to  be  found.  About 
five  hundred  years  after  the  time  of  Confucius,  this  saying 
was  remembered,  and  the  emperor  Ming-ti  having  had  a 
dream,  in  which  the  image  of  a  man,  as  coming  from  the 
51 


602  CONFUCIUS. 

west,  appeared,  he  sent  two  grandees  to  search  out  this  person. 
These  messengers  proceeded  no  further  than  India,  where 
they  became  acquainted  with  the  doctrines  of  Budha,  and  the 
image  of  a  man  who  was  said  to  have  taught  them  ;  and  these 
messengers,  taking  these  doctrines  to  be  the  object  sought, 
introduced  them  to  their  own  countrymen,  and  thus  constituted 
another  religion,  or  the  worship  of  Fo,  presently  to  be  men- 
tioned. 

Among  the  works  of  Confucius  is  one  entitled  Chong  Yong, 
or  the  immutable  medium,  which  contains  a  doctrine  not  sur- 
passed, in  good  sense,  by  any  of  the  philosophical  schools  of 
any  time  : — "  The  law  of  Heaven  is  engraven  even  in  the 
nature  of  man  ;  the  conduct  of  this  nature,  or  rather  the  sacred 
light  that  directs  his  reason,  is  the  right  path  which  he  ought 
to  follow  in  his  actions,  and  becomes  the  rule  of  a  wise  and 
virtuous  life ;  he  must  never  stray  from  this  path,  for  which 
cause  a  wise  man  ought  incessantly  to  watch  over  the  motions 
of  his  heart  and  his  passions ;  so  that  these  passions  keep  the 
middle,  and  incline  neither  to  the  right  nor  the  left  when  they 
are  calm  :  if  we  know  how  to  curb  them  when  they  rise,  they 
are  then  agreeable  to  right  reason :  by  this  conformity,  man 
keeps  in  that  right  way,  that  medium,  which  is  the  source  and 
principle  of  virtuous  actions." 

The  theory  of  parental  government,  which,  to  the  present 
day,  is  the  leading  principle  of  the  Chinese,  whether  in  civil 
policy  or  in  domestic  life,  was  either  first  taught  by  this  sage, 
or  strongly  enforced  by  him.  But  he  was  not  the  author  of 
that  policy  of  exclusion  of  all  foreigners,  and  all  learning  and 
inventions  of  other  nations,  which  is  now  so  obstinately  adher- 
ed to  by  this  nation.  In  the  twentieth  article  of  the  Chong 
Yong,  he  enumerates  the  virtues  of  princes.  He  prescribes  to 
the  prince  that  he  must  regulate  his  whole  life  and  conduct — 
must  honor  wise  men  in  a  particular  manner — must  love  his 
parents  tenderly — must  treat  the  prime  ministers  of  his  empire 
with  distinction — must  treat  mandarins,  and  those  who  aspire 
to  office,  as  he  is  treated  himself — must  take  care  of  his  sub- 
jects as  his  own  children — he  must  draw  into  his  own  domin- 
ions such  as  excel  in  any  useful  art  or  profession,  and  must 
give  a  kind  reception  to  strangers,  and  the  ambassadors  of 
other  princes.  But  these,  and  many  other  precepts  of  Confu- 
cius, have  long  ceased  to  be  justly  valued  by  prince  and  peo- 
ple. They  have  been  perverted  to  establish  an  absolute  des- 
potism among  rulers,  and  a  severe  tyranny  in  domestic  life. 
The  great  original  principle  of  all  being  is  forgotten  in  the 


RELIGION.  603 

adoration  of  the  visible  creation,  and  the  adoration  of  objects 
made  by  their  own  hands. 

There  is  less  to  commend  in  the  teachings  of  this  wise  man 
on  the  subject  of  ceremonies,  than  in  any  thing  else  that  came 
from  him,  or  which  was  enforced  by  him.  He  intended, 
probably,  by  prescribing  a  severe  and  exact  form  of  deport- 
ment, in  all  the  actions  of  life,  from  serious  to  insignificant,  to 
establish  guards  for  virtue.  This  theory  is  rational  where 
virtue  exists  ;  but  where  it  does  not,  these  forms  are  only  the 
cloak  of  deceit  and  selfishness.  The  most  rigorous  exactions 
of  these  ceremonies  continues  among  the  Chinese.  But  they 
have  less  pretension  to  the  respectful  sentiments  which  these 
ceremonies  imply,  than  any  people  on  earth.  The  most  recent 
writer  on  the  Chinese  character,  (the  Rev.  Charles  Gutzlaff, 
in  1834,)  confirms  previous  historians  in  regarding  the  people 
and  their  rulers,  from  highest  to  lowest,  as  destitute  of  honor 
and  integrity,  and  as  being  governed  by  a  mean  and  slavish 
fear.  This  writer  is  of  opinion,  that  the  Chinese,  under  the 
influences  of  a  different  government,  and  of  Christian  doc- 
trines, might  exhibit  human  nature  in  a  respectable  and  amia- 
ble form,  but  that  they  are  now  a  nation  of  liars  and  cheats. 

2.  The  second  order  of  religion,  in  China,  is  that  which  arose 
from  the  teachings  of  a  philosopher  who  appeared  about  600 
years  B.  C,  whose  name  was  Lau  Kyun.  This  sect  were 
afterwards  called  Tau-Tse.  To  its  teachers  may  be  traced 
the  worship  of  idols,  the  belief  in  spirits,  and  the  worship  of 
them.  They  believe  in  a  spirit  of  darkness,  as  the  author  of 
the  evils  which  afflict  human  life,  and  who  may  be  propitiated 
by  sacrifices.  A  hog,  a  fish,  or  a  fowl,  are  supposed  to  be  the 
most  acceptable  offerings.  This  sect  accompany  their  worship 
with  horrible  noises  of  the  human  voice,  and  by  the  din  of 
drums.  They  believe  that  future  events  are  disclosed  by 
various  contrivances  of  chance,  as  the  drawing  of  one  or  more 
sticks  out  of  a  bundle.  There  are,  therefore,  multitudes  of 
fortune-tellers,  in  whom  the  vulgar  place  confidence.  They 
exercise  all  the  various  arts  which  are  adapted  to  astonish  and 
delude  the  ignorant,  in  which  class  a  majority  of  the  Chinese 
are  included.  Thus  it  is  seen,  that  unenlightened  human 
nature  is  every  where  the  same ;  for,  these  practices  of  the 
Chinese  are  only  another  form  of  satisfying  human  curiosity, 
from  the  oracles  of  Greece  down  to  the  sorceries  of  American 
savages,  or  the  still  more  ignorant  tribes  that  dwell  in  Africa. 

3.  The  sect  of  Fo.  This  sect  is  supposed  to  be  derived 
from  the  Budhaism  of  the  Indians,  or  Hindostans,  and  to  have 


604  RELIGION. 

been  introduced  (according  to  Du  Halde's  History  of  China,) 
about  sixty-five  years  after  the  birth  of  Christ.  To  this  sect 
belong  the  Bonzas,  or  priests,  who  resemble  the  same  class  of 
persons  described  in  India.  They  have  monasteries  and  tem- 
ples. The  Bonzas  are  also  to  be  likened  to  the  mendicants  or 
beggars  of  the  Roman  church,  before  the  reformation.  They 
teach  a  future  life,  by  the  transmigration  of  the  soul  into  other 
animals.  They  have  strings  of  beads,  like  the  Catholics,  and, 
while  turning  them  in  their  fingers,  they  pronounce  certain 
words,  which  they  do  not  understand,  or  which  have  no  mean- 
ing to  them.  These  priests  subject  themselves  to  cruel  bodily 
sufferings,  which  they  say  they  do  to  save  the  souls  of  others, 
and  thus  excite  compassion,  and  obtain  gifts.  It  would  be  an 
unprofitable  labor  to  enumerate  the  multitude  of  absurd,  sense- 
less customs  of  this  sect,  observed  for  the  purpose  of  propitia- 
ting the  evil  spirits,  who  can  influence  or  order  the  events  of 
human  life. 

4.  At  what  time  some  form  of  Christianity  first  reached 
China,  is  unknown.  The  Nestorian  order  of  monks  pene- 
trated far  into  Asia  in  the  sixth  century,  and  the  Lamaism  of 
Thibet  is  undoubtedly  the  corrupt  remains  of  their  corruptions 
of  revelation.  There  is  a  tradition  that  St.  Thomas  found  his 
way  into  India  and  China.  Some  of  the  itinerant  monks  of 
the  Roman  church  appeared  in  China  about  the  year  1300. 
They  made  but  little  impression.  After  the  way  to  the  east 
around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  opened,  about  the  year 
1500,  many  missionaries  of  the  Roman  church  were  establish- 
ed in  China,  and  made  some  converts.  There  are  still  some 
persons  who  call  themselves  Christians,  among  the  Chinese, 
after  the  most  corrupted  forms  of  this  Roman  discipline.  Gutz- 
laff  says  there  are  six  hundred  thousand.  After  the  present 
dynasty  of  Tartars  came  to  the  throne,  in  1664,  the  policy  of 
excluding  foreigners  arose,  or  was  then  more  strictly  enforced. 
Before  the  end  of  that  century  it  became  the  settled  policy  to 
exclude  them.  The  Chinese,  therefore,  exclude  Christian 
missionaries,  not  because  they  are  such,  but  because  they  are 
barbarians,  in  common  with  all  foreigners,  and  unworthy  to 
enter  the  Celestial  Empire. 

5.  Mahometans.  Of  this  description  there  are  some  per- 
sons in  China,  whose  faith  arose,  originally,  from  the  Ara- 
bian invasions.  The  number  is  inconsiderable,  and  they  are 
unmolested.  It  does  not  appear  to  enter  into  Chinese  policy 
to  regulate  either  faith  or  practice,  in  religion.  Obedience  to 
the  civil  authority  is  required  severely,  and  this  does   not 


DEGRADATION    OF    CHINA. — PACIFIC    ISLES.  605 

enjoin  religious  ceremonies.  Yet,  as  connected  with  the  civil 
policy,  there  have  been  persecutions  of  the  Christians.  This 
may  have  been  caused  by  the  intrigues  of  the  Jesuits,  who 
were  the  Catholic  missionaries ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that 
the  followers  of  Mahomet  have  been  molested. 

In  the  present  degraded  state  of  the  Chinese,  there  are 
many  observances,  in  the  great  events  of  life,  as  birth,  mar- 
riage, death,  and  in  the  reverence  of  ancestors,  which  show 
an  uncommon  ignorance  and  superstition.  They  make  paper 
houses,  and  put  into  them  various  utensils,  constructed  of 
paper,  and  all  the  furniture  and  ornaments  in  common  use, 
with  a  store  of  gilt  paper.  This  preparation  is  for  the  use  of 
the  departed,  in  another  world,  and  is  transmitted  by  reducing 
the  whole  to  ashes.  This  paper  contrivance  appears,  in  proper 
form  and  substance,  in  that  other  world,  for  use ;  and  the  gilt 
paper  is,  by  this  process,  not  only  transmitted  thither,  but  in 
the  form  of  real  gold.  One  is  reminded,  by  this  folly,  of  the 
customs  which  came,  with  the  barbarians  of  the  east,  into 
Europe.  They  sacrificed,  or  buried  with  the  dead,  apparel, 
treasure,  favorite  horses,  arms,  and  sometimes  family  friends, 
or  relatives,  as  these  would  be  needed  to  make  a  becoming 
appearance  in  the  halls  of  the  gods.  The  hope  is  exceedingly 
small,  that  the  Chinese,  wedded  as  they  are  by  long-continued 
custom,  to  their  absurd  practices,  separated  from  the  rest  of 
the  world,  shackled  by  a  language  which  imposes  almost  in- 
surmountable difficulties  to  intercourse,  and  ruled  by  an  unre- 
lenting despotism,  for  which  only  they  are  fit,  are  ever  to 
become  a  civilized,  intelligent,  and  rational  nation.  But  they 
are  likely  to  be  an  important  member  of  the  family  of  nations, 
so  long  as  they  and  their  country  only,  produce  the  article  of 
Tea,  and  so  long  as  other  nations  believe  that  water,  stained 
therewith,  is  necessary  as  food,  or  desirable  as  a  luxury. 


Australia  and  Oceania. 

Eastwardly  and  southwardly  of  China  are  numerous  isl- 
ands— some  of  them  very  large.  All  of  these  were  found 
peopled  when  Europeans  first  visited  them,  about  three  centu- 
ries ago.  This  population  seems  to  be  of  Tartar  and  Chinese 
origin,  variously  intermixed.  Some  of  these  islands,  and  por- 
tions of  others,  are  possessed  by  European  nations.  It  may 
be  necessary  to  mention  these  possessions,  in  connexion  with 
European  history,  at  some  future  place.  Little  is  known, 
51* 


606  PACIFIC    ISLES. 

historically,  of  these  original  inhabitants,  disconnected  from 
European  history.  Whatever  is  known,  is  rather  matter  of 
speculation  than  important  information,  in  the  present  object. 
One  of  these  islands  was  first  known  under  the  name  of  New 
Holland,  a  continent  rather  than  an  island,  and  now  included, 
with  many  others,  under  Australia,  constituting,  more  prop- 
erly, a  fifth  division  of  the  globe,  than  a  part  of  one  of  the 
four.  A  large  portion  of  it  is  possessed  by  the  British  gov- 
ernment. New  Holland  was  first  used  as  a  place  of  banish- 
ment for  convicts,  but  has  recently  become  a  very  thriving  and 
important  colony  to  the  British.  The  numerous  islands  of 
the  Pacific  have  obtained  the  geographical  name  of  Oceania. 
They  have  caused  much  inquiry  among  the  learned,  in  respect 
to  origin,  languages,  customs,  and  traditions.  These  inquiries 
have  been  pursued  to  aid  in  solving  the  problem  of  the  origin 
of  the  people  who  were  found  on  the  American  continent 
when  first  visited  by  Europeans.  Assuming  that  the  conti- 
nents, islands,  and  seas  have  ever  been  the  same  since  the 
deluge,  then  there  are  two  theories : — 1.  America  was  peopled 
from  Asia,  by  migration  from  the  north-eastern  extremity  of 
Asia,  across  Bhering's  Straits.  2.  It  was  peopled  by  crossing 
the  Pacific  Ocean  from  the  eastern  coasts  of  Asia.  Perhaps 
in  both  ways.  But  who  can  tell  what  changes  have  occurred 
in  the  long  lapse  of  ages,  in  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  and  what 
islands  there  may  have  been  which  have  disappeared,  and 
which  may  have  facilitated  the  migration  across  that  ocean,  if 
it  was  in  that  way  that  population  first  came  1 


The  sketches  of  Asia  have  been  brought  down  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  to  make  those  of  Europe  and  America  the  only 
objects  in  the  intended  volume,  comprising  the  lapse  of  time 
between  the  commencement  of  the  Reformation  and  some 
period  within  the  current  century. 


INDEX 


ALEXANDER  in  Persia,  522. 
Alfred  the  Great,  63—73. 
Arabia  described,  526. 
Arabians,  see  Mahomet. 
Aristotelian  philosophy,  469. 
Armorial  bearings,  460. 
Asia  Minor,  518. 
Asia  Central,  522. 
Attainder,  25. 
Australia,  605. 

B. 

Bacon,  Roger,  113. 

Bagdad,  caliphs,  557.  Their  mag- 
nificence, 560. 

Barbarians  in  500,  their  posses- 
sions, 4.    Character  of,  3—9. 

Bajazet  and  Tamerlane,  508. 

Becket,  Tho-mas  b.,  94. 

Belisarius,  312,  479. 

Belgium,  see  Netherlands. 

Benedict,  Saint,  17. 

Bishops  in,  500. 

Bologna,  350. 

Borgia,  see  Rome. 

Boethius,  311. 

Boccaccio,  471. 

^rwce  and  Baliol,  116. 


Os&r  in  England,  4. 

Canonization,  229. 

Capetian  kings  of  France,  213. 

Carlovingian  kings,  203. 

CWte,  2. 

C/^55,  game  of,  524. 

China,  description  of,  population  of, 
590.  Origin  of,  Lamaism,  591. 
Government  of,  594.  Moral  con- 
dition   of,    595.      Chinese    lan- 


guage, 598.  Foreigners,  exclu- 
sion of,  597.  Ignorance  of  Chi- 
nese, 605.  Their  religion,  599. 
Confucius,  601.  Private  life  of 
Chinese,  596.      Commerce,  591. 

Chivalry,  see  Crusades, 
origin  of,  457. 

Chosroes  II. ,  his  grandeur,  524. 

Christianity,  in  500,  13. 

Church  and  State,  united,  15. 
Greek,  515. 
Roman,  see  Rome. 

Civil  Law,  483. 

Columbus,  186. 

Commerce,  (Heeren's  remark,)  463: 

Comines,  (biographer,)  249. 

Constantine  the  Great,  474. 

Constantinople,  description  of,  in 
Justinian's  time,  475.  Taken  by- 
crusaders,  498.  Literary  losses 
in,  500.  Latin  empire  at,  501. 
Greek  empire  restored  at,  503. 
Taken  by  the  Turks,  510. 

Cradle  of  Nations,  522. 

Cross,  holy,  restored  by  Heraclius, 
elevation  of,  491. 

Crusades,  how  begun,  446.  Meeting 
at  Clermont,  448.  Jerusalem  tak- 
en, 449.  Italian  cities  and  cru- 
sades, Saracens  take  Edessa, 
Louis  VII.  and  Conrad  II.  cru- 
saders, Richard  I.,  Philip  Augus- 
tus, and  Frederick  I.  crusaders, 
449.  Richard  takes  Cyprus,  siege 
of  Acre,  truce  with  Saladin,  450. 
Richard,  captive,  451.  Henry 
VII.  (Germ.)  crusader,  crusaders 
take  Constantinople,  451,  499. 
Frederick  II.  of  Germany,  cru- 
sader, 452.  Teutonic  crusades, 
498.  Louis  IX.  of  France,  his 
crusades,  453.  Christians  expell- 
ed from  Palestine,  454.  Effects 
of,  454.  Control  temporal  power 


608 


INDEX. 


455.  Increase  papal  power,  455. 
Promote  free  cities,  456,  Cru- 
sades in  Europe,  455.  Advance 
popular  rights,  tranquillize  Eu- 
rope, promote  chivalry,  origin  of 
chivalry,  457.  Came  from  the 
east,  made  sacred  by   crusades, 

458.  School  of  refinement,  no- 
bility   connected  with  chivalry, 

459.  Armorial  distinctions,  tour- 
naments, 460.  Orders  of  knight- 
hood, 461.  Crusades  promote 
commerce,  laws  of  the  sea,  462. 
Silk,  sugar,  463.  Effects,  good 
and  evil,  of  crusades,  464. 

D. 

Damascus,  city  of,  519. 

Dante,  470. 

Dearborrts    Commerce    of    Black 

Sea,  475. 
Druids,  55. 
Dunstan,  tiaint,  83. 


E. 


Ebatana,  city  of,  521. 

Edessa,  519. 

England,  Caesar,  description  of, 
several  names  of,  Roman  posses- 
sion of,  54,  55.  King  Arthur, 
England  abandoned  by  Romans, 
56.  Invaded  by  Saxons  57 — 59. 
Saxon  kingdoms,  Christianity  in, 
60,  61.  Invasion  by  Danes,  62. 
Alfred's  reign,  63—70.  His  death, 
72.  Saxon  character,  73-78.  Sax- 
on language,  79,  80.  Saxon  kings, 
81.  Saint  Dunstan,  83.  Edwin 
and  Elgiva,  84.  Danish  invasion, 
87.  Battle  of  Hastings,  88.  Con- 
quered by  William,  89.  Feudal 
system  in,  90.  Doomsday-book, 
91.  William's  reign,  91, 92.  Wil- 
liam Rufus,  Henry  I.,  Stephen, 
Henry  II.,  92—94.  Thomas  a 
Becket,  94.  Roman  Church,  95. 
Pilgrimage  to  Canterbury,  Chau- 
cer's tales,  95,  96.  Henry's  reign, 
96—99.  Richard  1.,  99,  100. 
John,  in  Ireland,  murders  Ar- 
thur, loses  French  provinces, 
99—102  Stephen  Langton,  102. 
John  and  the  pope,  Magna  Char- 


ta,  baronial  wars,  John's  conduct, 
death,  102— 106.  Henry  III.,  mis- 
erable state  of  the  kingdom,  pow- 
er of  the  church,  confirmation  of 
Magna  Charta,  106—109.  Origin 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  110. 
De  Mountfort,110.  Henry  and  his 
son,  prisoners,  battle  of  Evesham, 
111.  Death  of  Henry,  112,  State 
of  the  country,  113,  114.  Roger 
Bacon,  113. 

Edward  I.  conquers  Wales, 

Prince  of  Wales,  115.  Wars  with 
Scotland,  wars  with  France,  116. 
William  Wallace,  internal  gov- 
ernment, 117.  Confirmation  of 
Magna  Charta,  118.  Judicial 
Courts,  119.  English  language, 
120. 

Edward  II.,  rebellions,  120. 

Battle  of  Bannockburn,  120.  Ed- 
ward deposed  and  murdered,  121. 
State  of  society,  121. 

Edward   III.,   122.    Claims 

crown  of  France.war  withFrance, 
battle  of  Crecy,  123.  Edward  the 
Black  Prince,  124.  Capture  of 
Calais,  order  of  garter,  battle  of 
Poitiers,  124.  King  of  France 
captive,  conduct  of  Edward  the 
Black  Prince,  125.  New  war 
with  France,  126.  Edward  B.  P. 
aids  Peter  of  Spain,  126,  Loss 
of  provinces  in  France,  death  of 
Edward  B.  P.,  death  of  Edward 
III.,  127. 

Richard  II.,  wars  with  Scot- 
land and  France,  127.  Wat  Ty- 
ler,  128.    Richard's    imbecility, 

129.  Murder  of  Glocester,  130. 
Duel  of  Hereford  and  Norfolk, 

130.  Richard  goes  to  Ireland, 
130.  Richard  deposed,  Henry  IV. 
assumes  the  crown,  Richard  mur- 
dered, 131.  State  of  England,  ju- 
dicial courts,  pleadings  in  Eng- 
lish, 132.  Treason,  statute  of,  132. 
John  Wicklifle,  Chaucer,  133. 
Learning,  eminent  authors,  133 
—135. 

Henry  IV.,  table  of  kings, 

135.  Origin  of  red  and  white 
roses,  136.  Division  into  two  par- 
ties, 138.  Battle  of  Shrewsbury, 
king  of  Scotland  prisoner,  Lol- 
lards, 139. 


609 


Henry  V.  invades  France, 

battle  of  Agincourt,  140,  141.  H. 
marries  Catherine  of  France,  his 
death,  141. 

Henry  VI,  principal  actors 

in  his  time,  143,  144.  Margaret 
of  Anjou,  146.  Elenor,  wife  of 
Glocester,  Glocester  murdered, 
146.  Suffolk  beheaded,Jack  Cade, 
Henry's  imbecility,  147.  Attempt 
to  reconcile  parties,  148.  Battles 
of  York  and  Lancaster,  Henry 
prisoner,  149.  Death  of  York, 
Henry  rescued  by  the  queen,  150. 

-  -  -  -  Edward  IV.,  battles  of  York 
and  Lancaster,  151.  Flight  of 
Margaret,  Edward  marries  Eliz- 
abeth Woodville,  152.  Clarence 
marries  Warwick's  daughter,  in- 
surrections, 153.  Warwick  rebels, 
Edward  escapes  to  the  continent, 
154.  Henry  VI.  restored,  Marga- 
ret comes  from  France,  Edward 
returns,  battle  of  Barnet,  War- 
wick slain,  155.  Henry  and  Mar- 
garet captives,  156.  Edward's 
reign,  death,  character,  156.  Jane 
Shore,  157. 

Richard  III.,  principal  ac- 
tors in  his  time,  158,  159.  Rich- 
ard imprisons  his  nephews,  mur- 
ders them,  usurps  the  crown,  160, 
161.  Richard  proposes  to  marry 
his  niece,  162.  Earl  of  Richmond 
claims  the  crown,  battle  of  Bos- 
worth,  Richard  slain,  Henry  VII. 
proclaimed,  163.  Richard's  par- 
liament, 164.  Henry  marries  the 
daughter  of  Edward  IV.,  union 
of  roses,  164.  Pretenders  to  the 
throne,  murder  of  young  War- 
wick, 165.  Reign  of  Henry  VI  I. , 
character,  166.  Eminent  writers, 
inventions,  167,  168. 

English  language,  prevalence  of, 
588. 

Euphrates,  cities  on,  519. 

Europe,  northern  and  north-eastern, 
257. 


Ferrara,  350. 

Feudal  system,  18.  Opinions  of  em- 
inent men  on,  19.  Origin  of,  20. 
Different  tenures,  20.  Lords  and 
vassals,  21—25.    Nobility  arose 


from,  22.  Classes  of  society,  24. 
Forfeiture  and  attainder,  25. 
Oaths  of  vassals,  26.  Livery  and 
seizen,  investiture,  wars,  27.  Sla- 
very under,  28.  Burthens  of,  29. 
Mitigation  of  slavery,  note,  30. 
Hallam's  opinion  of,  31.  Feudal 
system  key  of  history,  32. 
Florence,  Tuscany,  Tuscan  cities, 
357.  Guelfs  and  Ghibelines  in, 
and  hereditary  feuds,  358.  Influ- 
ence of  Florence,  its  government 
in  1282,  nobles  excluded,  359. 
Florence  and  Pistoia,  360.  The 
Bianci  and  Neri,  361.  Charles  of 
Valois  at  Florence,  362.  Pope 
and  Florence,  363.  Attack  on 
Pistoia,  364.  Its  commercial 
grandeur,  364.  Sismondi's  char- 
acter of  Florentines,  365.  Balance 
of  power,  war  with  Milan,  deluge 
at  Florence,  duke  of  Athens  at 
Florence,  366.  His  tyranny,  fam- 
ine and  pestilence  at  Florence  in 
1348,  367.  Charles  IV.  in  Italy, 
368.  Sea-port  of  Telemone,  369. 
Medici  family  in  1360,  Florence, 
Pisa,  and  Voltera,  first  maritime 
war  of  Florence,  war  with  pope, 
revolution  in  1378,370,  371.  Med- 
ici family,  371.  John  Hawkwood, 
372.  Glorious  era  of  Florence, 
from  1383  to  1434,  372.  Cosmo  de 
Medici,  imprisoned,  banished,  re- 
called, 374;  at  the  head  of  the 
republic,  375.  Cosmo's  magnifi- 
cence, his  death,  Sismondi's  re- 
flections, 376.  Florence  loses  its 
liberty,  377.  Pierode  Medici,  378. 
Piero's  reproach  of  his  party,  his 
death,  378.  His  sons,  duke  of 
Milan's  visit  to  Florence,  379. 
Reign  of  the  Medici,  Lorenzo  the 
Magnificent,  his  enmity  to  the 
Pazzi,  conspiracy  of  the  Pazzi, 
380.  Increased  power  of  Lorenzo, 
382.  Severe  punishments,  Loren- 
zo and  Sixtus  IV.,  382.  Lorenzo 
at  Naples,  makes  peace,  Turks 
invade  Italy,  Lorenzo's  power, 
his  debts  paid  out  of  public  treas- 
ury, his  death,  383,  384.  Savono- 
ralaand  Lorenzo,  384.  Lorenzo's 
character,  385.  Opinions  of  him 
by  Hallam,  Roscoe,  and  Sismon- 
di,   Roscoe's  description  of  his 


610 


INDEX. 


person,  386.  Piero  succeeds  Lo- 
renzo, 387.  His  feeble  govern- 
ment, treats  with  Charles  VIII., 
banishment  of  Piero,  Charles  at 
Florence,  387.  New  constitution, 
388.  Savonorala,  his  power,  389. 
His  death,  390.  Piero's  death, 
war  between  Germany,  France, 
Spain,  and  Italy,  the  Medici  re- 
stored, dukes  of  Florence,  391. 

France,  in  the  sixth  and  seventh 
centuries,  198.  Mayors  of  the 
palace,  battle  of  Charles  Martel 
and  the  Moors,  Pepin  assumes 
the  crown,  201.  End  of  the  Me- 
rovingians, Carlovingians,  203. 
Charlemagne,  204— 2U9.  Patron- 
age of  learning,  Guizot's  com- 
ments, Alcuin,  Eginhard,  207. 
Charlemagne's  death  and  burial, 
difficulties  overcome  by  him,  208, 
209.  Louis  debonaire,  209.  Divi- 
sion of  France  and  Germany, 
modern  France,  condition  A.  D. 
1000,  210.  Commerce,  clergy,  211. 
Mechanic  arts,  212.  Elements  of 
French  history,  Capetians,  213. 
Table  of  French  kings,  214.  Roy- 
al branches,  215.  Truce  of  God, 
216.  Crusades  begun  in  France, 
218.  Philip  I.,  Louis  VI.,  220. 
Charters  cities,  221.  Louis  VII , 
crusade,  221.  Divorces  Elenor, 
she  marries  Henry  II.  of  Eng- 
land, 223.  Philip  II.,  Richard  I., 
Frederick  II.,  crusade,  223.  Albi- 
genses,  224.  Troubadours,  Prov- 
ence, courts  of  love,  225.  Relig- 
ious persecution,  226.  Origin  of 
Inquisition,  228. 

Louis  IX.,  called  Saint,  229. 

Canonization  of,  his  character, 
229.  Crusades,  230.  His  biogra- 
pher, Joinville,  231.  Philip  the 
Fair,  233.  Third  estate,  234.  His 
quarrel  with  Boniface  VIII.,  234. 
Elects  a  French  pope,  popes  at 
Avignon,  destroys  knight  tem- 
plars, divides  their  riches,  235. 
His  death,  and  that  of  the  pope, 
236.  Judicial  courts,  kings  of 
the  house  of  Valois,  miserable 
state  of  France,  237.  Wars 
with  .England,  Edward  III.  in- 
vades France,  battle  of  Crecy, 
Capture  of  Calais,  238.     John, 


king  of  France,  battle  of  Poic- 
tiers,  John  captive,  his  treatment, 
239.  Pestilence,  Petrarch's  de- 
scription of  misery  of  France, 
Charles  the  Bad,  of  Navarre,  his 
death,  240.  Jacquerie,Charles  V., 
241.  Bed  of  justice,  armed  adven- 
turers, 242.  Internal  commotions, 

243.  Henry  V.  of  England,  in 
France,  battle  of  Agincourt,  243. 
Treaty  of  Troyes,  Charles  VII., 

244.  Agnes  Sorelle,  Maid  of  Or- 
leans, her  agency,  245—248.  First 
standing  army,  248.  Absolute 
power  of  the  king,  249. 

-  -  -  -  Louis  XL,  Comines  his  bi- 
ographer, 249.  Base  character  of 
Louis,  his  quarrel  with  Charles 
of  Burgundy,  250.  His  dominion 
over  all  France,  his  miserable 
life  and  death,  252.  Touches  to 
cure  king's  evil,  establishes  mails, 
252. 

Charles  VIII.,  253.  Con- 
quers Naples,  254.  His  death, 
Louis  XII.,  marries  Anne,  wid- 
ow of  Charles,  her  excellent 
character,  255.  Death  of  Louis, 
French  language,  256. 

Franks,  conquer  Gaul,  199. 


Genoa,  350.  Wars  with  Venice,  351. 
Internal  factions,  352.  Commer- 
cial riches,  353.  Possessions  at 
Constantinople,  351.  Subjected  to 
Milan,  355.  Louis  XII.  at  Genoa, 
356. 

Germany,  separated  from  France, 
259.  Geography  of,  260.  German 
history,  materials  of,  people  of, 
A.  D.  1000,261.  Emperors  elec- 
tive, 262.    Emperors  and  popes, 

263.  Table  of  German  emperors, 

264.  Henry  I.  establishes  cities, 

265.  Otho  I.,  electors  of,  266. 
Title  of  king  of  Rome,  iron 
crown,  war  in  Italy,  267.  Henry 
IV.  and  Gregory  VII.,  German 
population  in  1138,  state  of  soci- 
ety, 268.  Guelfs  and  Ghibelines, 
origin  of,  269.  Conrad  III.,  269. 
Frederick  Barbarossa,  his  Italian 
wars,  270.  Frederick  II.,  271. 
Fem-eourts,  272.    Frederick  and 


INDEX. 


611 


popes,  Dunham's  opinion  of  Fred- 
erick, 273.  Great  interregnum, 
274.  Electors  of  emperor,  275. 
Richard  of  Cornwall,  Rodolph  of 
Hapsburgh,  276 ;  reign  of,  foun- 
der of  house  of  Austria,  277.  Al- 
bert assassinated,  vengeance  of 
his  daughter,  278.  Charles  IV. 
establishes  form  of  election,  278. 
His  golden  bull,  founds  Univer- 
sity of  Prague,  Wincelaus,  de- 
praved character  of,  279.  Sigis- 
mund,  presides  at  council  of  Con- 
stance, John  Huss,  and  Jerome 
of  Prague,  280.  Zisca,  blind  gen- 
eral, slavery  gradually  disap- 
pears, 281.  Frederick  IV.  and 
Wise  of  Austria,  his  reign,  282. 
Maximilian  ,283.  Perpetual  peace, 
imperial  chamber,  Aulic  council, 
circles  of  Germany,  284.  Military 
force,  285.  Fem-courts  suppress- 
ed, mails  established,  285.  Maxi- 
milian's Italian  wars,  285. 

Greek  empire,  see  Roman  empire 
of  the  east. 

Greek  philosophers,  last  of.  523. 

Grenada,  conquest  of,  185. 

Greenwood's  edition  of  Maundrett's 
Palestine,  519. 

Guelfs  and  Ghibelines,  origin  of, 
269.  In  Italy,  323,  324. 

Guizofs  historical  lectures,  204. 

Gunpowder,  467 — 472. 


II 


Hallam's  opinion  of  feudal  system, 

31. 
Hanse  towns,  origin  of,  274. 
Heathen,  origin  of  name  of,  13. 
Her aclius, Roman  emperor,  488, 489. 
Holland,  see  Netherlands. 
Huns,  origin  of,  6. 
Huss,  John,  burnt,  280. 


Iconoclasts,  image-breakers,  492. 

India  described,  569.  Origin  of  peo- 
ple, 570.  Ancient  temples,  572. 
Pagodas,  573.  Alexander  in,  579. 
Commerce,  578  Religion,  571. 
Castes,  priesthood,  572.  Elora, 
superstitions,  573.  Sutteeism,  575. 
Laws  of  Menu,  political  revolu- 


tions, 577.  Conquests  by  Portu- 
guese. 581.  By  the  Dutch,  582. 
By  the  French,  583.  By  the  Eng- 
lish, 583.  By  the  Spanish,  582. 
East  India  Company,  584.  Lord 
Clive,  Warren  Hastings,  586. 
Lord  Wellington,  587.  Black 
Hole  at  Calcutta,  power  of  East 
India  Company,  586. 

Inquisition,  origin  of,  228.  In  Spain, 
187. 

Ireland,  description  of,  32.  Leland 
and  Moore,  historians  of,  popu- 
lation of,  early  annals  of,  33. 
Four  kingdoms  of,  34.  St.  Pat- 
rick, 35.  Early  learning,  36. 
Irish  harp,  Roman  church  in, 
granted  by  pope  Adrian  to  Henry 
II.,  37.  Conquests  of  Strongbow, 
38.  Invasion  of  Henry  II.,  effects 
of,  39  Causes  of  wretchedness 
in,  40.  Prince  John  in,  41.  Af- 
flicted state  of  Ireland  to  the  year 
1500,  42—44. 

Islamism,  see  Mahometanism. 

Ispahan,  city  of,  521. 

Irving' s  Washington,  Columbus,186. 

Italian  language,  315. 

Italy,  elements  of  its  history,  Theo- 
doric,  Gothic  king,  309.  His  use- 
ful reign,  310.  Ca?siodorus,  Boe- 
thius,  Symachus,  cruelty  of  The- 
odoric  to  Boethius  and  Symachus, 

311.  Miserable  end  of  Theodoric, 

312.  Conquests  in  Italy  of  Beli- 
sarius  and  Narses,312.  Northern 
Italy  described,  320.  Guelfs  and 
Ghibelines  in  Italy,  323,  324.  At- 
tempts of  Frederick  Barbarossa 
to  conquer  northern  Italy,  324 — 
327-  Peace  of  Constance,  327. 
Elements  of  history,  328,  329. 
Cities  subjected  by  noble  families, 
330,  331.  State  of  society,  332. 
The  Visconti  at  Milan,  333-336. 

J. 

Jack  Cade,  insurrection,  147. 
Jacquerie  in  France,  241. 
Jerome,  of  Prague,  burnt,  280. 
Jerusalem  taken    by  Chosroes,  of 

Persia,  521.     By  Arabians,  542. 
Joinville,  biographer  of  St.  Louis, 

229. 
Justinian  and  Theodora,  his  origin, 

477.  His  buildings,  481.  His  code 


612 


INDEX. 


of  laws,  48-2.     His  reign,  485. 
His  death,  486. 

K. 

Knighthood,  orders  of,  461. 
Koran  of  Mahomet,  535. 


Lamaism,  origin  of,  591. 
Latin  language,  315. 
Law,  canon,  origin  of,  422. 

civil,  compilation  of,  483. 
Laws  of  the  sea,  462. 
Learning,  see  society,  472. 

study  of  Latin,  revived,  472. 
Lombard  kingdom,  313—316. 

M. 

Macpherson,  Ossian's  poems,  34. 

Magna  Charta,  104. 

Mahomet,  or  Mohammed,  his  ori- 
gin, 530.  His  religion,  and  prop- 
agation of  it,  531.  The  Hegira, 
532.  Mahomet  takes  Mecca,  534. 
His  death,  the  Koran,  535-  His 
private  life,  536.  His  creed,  537. 
His  miracles,  538.  Abubeker, 
538.  Conquests  on  the  Euphra- 
tes. Bassora  founded,  Persia  con- 
quered, conquests  in  the  east,  539. 
Syria  conquered,  540.  Jerusalem 
taken,  542.  Conquests  in  ten 
years,  538—543.  Egypt  invaded, 
544.  Alexandria  taken,  545.  Li- 
brary burnt,  546.  Amrou's  de- 
scription of  Egy pt,543 — 548.  Con- 
quest of  northern  Africa,  548. 
Succession  of  caliphs  in  the  east, 
house  of  Omniades,  civil  wars, 
religious  sects,  550.  Mahometan 
population  and  character,  551. 
House  of  Abbassides,  Omniades 
overthrown,  556.  Reign  of  the 
Abbassides,  556.  Grandeur  of 
Bagdad,  557.  Mokanna,  (Lalla 
Rookh,)  557.  Haroun  Al  Raschid, 
558.  His  patronage  of  learning, 
his  pilgrimages,  559.  Almamon's 
reign,  560.  Greek  works  trans- 
lated, 561.  Motasem  the  Octona- 
ry,  561.  Moctador,  his  splendor, 
562.    Conquest  of   Turks,  563. 


Origin  of  Ottoman  empire,  563. 
Manors,  name  of,  23. 
Mariners!  compass,  467 — 472. 
MaundrelVs  Palestine,  519. 
Mediterranean,  cities  on  coast  of, 

519. 
Medici  family,  371. 
Merovingian  kings,  199. 
Milan,  332—339. 
Monastic  life,  17. 
Morier  on  Persia,  523. 
Muratori,  311. 

N. 

Names,  surnames,  origin  of,  460. 

Naples  and  Sicily,  391.  Norman 
kingdom  in  1127,  elements  of  his- 
tory, Naples  and  Germany  con- 
nected, 392  Crown  of  Naples 
passes  to  house  of  Suabia,  crown 
passes  to  house  of  Anjou,  Conra- 
din  and  prince  Frederick  be- 
headed, 393.  Peter  of  Arragon, 
394.  Sicilian  vespers,  death  of 
Charles  of  Anjou,  Naples  and 
Sicily  separated,  395.  Joan,  queen 
of  Naples,  Charles  III.,  396.  Na- 
ples and  Sicily  conquered  by 
Spain,  Alfonso  of  Arragon,  397. 
Ferdinand,  398.  Alfonso  II., 
Charles  VIII.  of  France,  399. 
Personal  description  of  Charles, 

400.  Prepares  to  invade  Naples, 

401.  His  entry  into  Rome,  his 
army  described,  402.  Charles  and 
pope  Alexander  VI ,  403.  Mur- 
der of  prince  Zem-Zem,  404. 
Conquest  of  Naples  by  Charles 
VIII.,  league  against  him,  405. 
His  retreat,  406.  Fate  of  the 
French,  408.  Ferdinand  II.  re- 
covers Naples,  marries  his  aunt, 
his  death,  409,  410.  Wars  of 
France,  Spain,  and  Italy,  Naples 
and  Sicily  pass  to  Spain,  410. 

Netherlands  described,  192.  Roman 
church  in,  comprised  in  Charle- 
magne's dominions,  feudal  sys- 
tem in,  194.  Commerce,  wars, 
cities,  195.  Geographical  divi- 
sions, spirit  of  liberty,  Arteveldt, 
196.  Dukes  of  Burgundy ,Charles 
the  Rash,  his  attempt  to  conquer 
Switzerland,  197.    His  daughter 


INDEX. 


613 


marries  Maximilian  of  Germany,  j 

consequences,  198. 
Nobility,  origin  of,  22,  459. 
Norman  kingdom  in  Italy,  318- 

320. 

O. 

Orders  of  monks,  see  Rome. 

of  knighthood,  461. 
Orleans,  Maid  of,  245. 
Ottoman  empire,  563. 


Pagan,  origin  of  name  of,  13. 

Patrick,  St.,  of  Ireland,  Pelagian 
heresy,  35. 

Persia  boundaries,  520.  Persepolis 
city,  521.     Porter  on  Persia,  523. 

Pestilence  in  1348,  367. 

Petrarch,  471. 

Pisa,  its  commerce,  its  buildings,  its 
decline,  352—356. 

Philosophy,  scholastic,  469. 

Philosophers,  Grecian,  last  of,  523. 

Portugal,  its  origin,  Joam  I.  and 
his  sons,  190.  Conquests  of,  in 
Africa,  commercial  grandeur  of, 
191.     Portuguese  language,  192. 

Printing,  art  of,  467 — 472. 


R. 


Religion,'siate  of  in  500,  13—18. 

Retrospect  of  five  centuries,  1000 — 
1500,  465. 

Roman  empire  of  the  east  in  500, 
9—13.  From  500  to  1453,  474. 
Constantinople  described,  475. 
Justinian's  reign,  477 — 483.  Civil 
law  compiled,  482—486.  Reign 
ofHeraclius,  488.  Reign  of  Basil, 
493.  Comneni  dynasty,  495. 
Reign  of  Andronicus,  496-  An- 
gelf dynasty,  498.  Constantinople 
taken  by  crusaders,  499.  Litera- 
ry losses  at  Constantinople,  500. 
Latin  kingdom  at  Constantinople, 
501.  Restoration  of  Greek  empire 
at  Constantinople,  503.  Attack 
on  Constantinople  by  Turks,  510. 
Siege  and  conquest  of  Constanti- 
nople by  Turks,  511.  Note  on  the 
Greek  church,  515. 

Rome,  the  popes,  and  the  church, 
authorities  relied  on,  411.  Rome, 
52 


elements  of  papal  power,  411. 
False  decretals,  412.  Gregory 
VII. ,  413.  Popes  from  1073—1303, 
Geisler's  opinion  of  Gregory  VII., 
413,  414.  His  origin,  policy,  fall, 
and  death,  415.  His  contest  with 
German  emperor  Henry  IV.,  416. 
Matilda's  donation,  417.  Celibacy 
of  clergy,  religious  orders,  419. 
Mendicant  orders,  420.  Relations 
of  clerical  and  temporal  power, 
420.  Appeal  to  Rome,  421.  Papal 
arrogance,  Innocent  III.  and  John 
of  England,  422.  Canon  law,  its 
origin,  utility,  duration,  422 — 425. 
Roman  population,  Colonna  and 
Ursini  families,  425.  Transub- 
stantiation,  sacramental  confes- 
sion, 426.  "War  against  Albigen- 
ses,  Inquisition  established,  427. 
Its  power  over  person  and  prop- 
erty, 423.  Dispensing  and  ena- 
bling powers  of  popes,  429.  Bon- 
iface and  Philip  of  France,  triple 
crown,  bull  unam  sanctam,  431. 
Death  of  Boniface,  432.  Jubilee, 
Benedict  XL,  433.  Rienzi,  (Bul- 
wer,)  Clement  V.,  Papal  seat  at 
Avignon,  restored  to  Rome,  great 
schism,  434.  Council  of  Con- 
stance, 435.  Martin  V.,  proposed 
reforms,  436.  Huss,  and  Jerome  of 
Prague,  burnt,  councils  superior 
to  popes,  438.  Succession  of 
popes,  union  of  Greek  and  Latin 
churches,  second  jubilee,  Nepo- 
tism, Pius  II.,  439.  Sixtus  IV., 
his  profligacy,  conspires  against 
the  Medici,  Innocent  VIII.  buys 
papal  crown,  440.  Alexander  VI., 
441.  Caesar  Borgia,  his  son,  442. 
Their  infamous  deeds,  443.  Al- 
exander VI.  grants  America,  442. 
Sismondi's  account  of  the  Bor- 
gias,  Alexander  poisoned,  443. 
Restricts  the  press,  444.  Julius  II. 
and  his  wars,  decline  of  the 
church,  Leo  X.,  445.  Indulgen- 
ces, approach  of  Reformation, 
446. 

S. 

Scholastic  learning,  469. 

Scotland  described,  44.  Early  pop- 
ulation, 45.  Name  of,  46.  Early 
kings,     Shakspeare's     Macbeth, 


614 


INDEX. 


Maid  of  Norway,  proposed  mar- 
riage of,  her  death,  47.  Bruce  and 
Baliol,  48.  William  Wallace, 
battles  of  Falkirk  and  Bannock- 
burn,  origin  of  house  of  Stuart, 

49.  Succession  of  Scottish  kings, 

50.  Internal  state  of  Scotland, 
marriage  of  daughter  of  Henry 
VII.  with  James  IV.,  origin  of 
house  of  Stuart  in  England,  51. 
Battle  of  Flowden  Field,  52. 
Character  of  the  Scots,  53. 

Sea-laws,  463. 

Silk,  464. 

Sicilian  vespers,  394. 

Slavery,  decline  of,  466. 

Society  from  1000  to  1500,  465. 

Society,  review  of,  465—474. 

Spain,  description  of,  169.  Gothic 
kingdom,  170.  Battle  between 
Alaric  and  Clovis,  Roman  church 
in  Spain,  171.  Spain  invaded  by 
Moors,  origin  of  northern  Gothic 
kingdoms,  173.  Feudal  system 
unknown  in  Spain,  Arabian  cali- 
phate in,  175.  Grandeur  of,  176. 
Arabian  learning  in,  refinements, 

177.  Duration  of  caliphate,  en- 
largement of  northern  kingdoms, 

178.  Castalian  spirit,  179.  Cas- 
tles, Cortes,  freedom  of  opinion, 

180.  Privilege  of  union,  Justiza, 
liberty,  181.  The  Cid,  182.  Peter 
the  Cruel,  marriage  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  183.  Their  joint 
dominion,  internal  state  of  Spain, 

181.  Expulsion  of  the  Moors, 
conquest  of  Granada,  185.  Wars 
of  Ferdinand  in  Italy,  186  Death 
of  Isabella,  her  daughter  Joan, 

187.  Character   of    Ferdinand, 

188.  Language    and  literature, 

189.  Prescott  s  History  of  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella,  note,  190. 

Sugar,  464. 

Surnames,  origin  of,  460. 

Susa,  or  Sushan,  521. 

Switzerland,  ancient  state  of,  285. 
Description  of,  feudal  lords  of, 
city  of  Berne,  Albert,  286.  Inso- 
lence of  his  agents,  union  of  for- 
est cantons,  oppressions,  meeting 
at  Rutli,  William  Tell,  289.  Bat- 
tle of  Morgarten,  league  of  con- 
federates, 291.  Swiss  name,  293. 
Wars  of  Swiss,increase  of  league, 


294—296.  Elements  of  Swiss  his- 
tory from  1350  to  1500,  Zurich 
and  Austria,  battle  of  Laupen, 
294.  De  Coucy  and  the  Swiss, 
battle  of  Sempach,  295.  League 
of  Sempach,  Appenzal  joins,  296. 
Swiss  conquests  on  the  Aar,  con- 
tentions among  confederates,  297. 
Battle  of  St.  Jacob,  298.  Promi- 
nent agents  from  1450  to  1477, 
298.  Charles  the  Rash  and  the 
Swiss,  299.  His  policy,  300.  Bat- 
tle of  Granson,  301.  Battle  of 
Morat,  303  Decline  of  Swiss 
character,  Swiss  in  Italy,  meeting 
at  Stantz,  304.  Nicholas  of  the 
Flue,  covenant  of  Stantz,  Frey- 
burgh  and  Soleure  admitted,  305. 
War  with  Maximilian,  peace, 
members  of  the  confederacy  in 
1500,  306.  Geneva,  Neuchatel, 
306.  Grisons,  Tyrol,  307.  Sum- 
mary of  Swiss  character,  308. 
Symeon,  the  Stylite,  17. 

T. 

Tacitus,  on  the  Germans,  7. 
Tadmor,  or  Palmyra,  519. 
Tamerlane  and  Bajazet,  508. 
Taurus,  or  Tabrees,  city,  519. 
Teheran,  city,  519. 
Teutonic  nations,  5 — 7. 
Theodora,  her  firmness,  479. 
Tigris,  cities  on  the,  519. 
Tournaments,  460. 
Treason,  statute  of,  132. 
Troubadours^  225. 
TVwofGod,  216. 
Tytler,  on  feudal  system,  18. 

U. 

Ulphilas,  converts  the  Goths,  15. 
Universities,  469. 


Venice,  origin  of,  339.  Political  rev- 
olutions, 340—344.  Frederick 
Barbarossa  at  Venice,  341.  Mar- 
riage of  Venice  and  the  sea,  342. 
Venice  excommunicated,  conspi- 
racy, 342,  343.  Perpetual  aristoc- 
racy, Council  of  Ten,  its  tyran- 
ny, 343.  Nobles  and  people,  elec- 


INDEX. 


615 


tion  of  Doge,  344.  Venice  and 
Constantinople,  345.  Rivalry  with 
Pisa  and  Genoa,  346.  Doge  Mo- 
cenago,  his  view  of  prosperity  in 
Venice,  347.  Conquests  under 
Foscari,  Venice  and  the  Turks, 
348.  War  of  Venice  with  France, 
Germany  and  Spain,  348.  Effect 
of  on  Venice,  349.  Decline  of 
Venice,  350. 

W. 

Ware's  letters  from  Palmyra,  519. 


Wat  Tyler's  insurrection,  128. 
Wheaton's  Hist,  of  Northmen,  253. 
Wickliffe,  John,  reformer,  133. 

Y. 

York  and  Lancaster,  wars,  151. 

Z. 

Zend  language,  5G6 
Zenda -Vesta,  of  Zoroaster,  567. 
Zisca,  blind  general,  581. 
Zoroaster,  his  religion,  567. 


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